2.04 against 0.8. Pre-match, the comparison was straightforward: the group leader with 7 points faced the side in third on 4, and England’s previous win in this fixture had already produced a 2:1 score on 2026-07-01. What followed briefly disturbed that expectation when B. Cipenga scored in the 7th minute, yet the rest of the match steadily returned to the hierarchy implied by both table position and chance quality. England’s superiority came from where their attempts originated, not from empty circulation; 13 shots from inside the area against Congo DR’s 2 created the xG gap of 1.24 and made the final score proportionate rather than dramatic.
England’s 2–0 win was built on volume and territory, not brutality: a 0.92 xG edge, 67% possession, 557 passes, and 7 corners created a game that looked more suffocating than explosive.