Noni Madueke will not be “naive” enough to look beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo as England kick-off the World Cup knockout stage against another deep defence.
The Euro 2024 runners-up are heavy favourites for Wednesday’s round of 32 meeting in Atlanta, where the side 41st in FIFA’s world rankings stand in their way of progress.
A trip to the Azteca to take on co-hosts Mexico or Ecuador is the reward, but England boss Thomas Tuchel warned his side would be “punished” if they dare look beyond their date with DR Congo.
That message is shared by his squad, with winger Madueke only focused on ensuring the Leopards’ first appearance in the World Cup knockout phase ends in disappointment.
“I expect a difficult game for sure,” the England winger said. “I feel like when you get to this stage of the World Cup, you can’t take any opposition lightly. All the opposition are dangerous.
“They will have their strengths and their qualities that they try and impose in the game. This game will be no different. It’ll be a difficult game, and we’ll be ready from the start.”
Asked about potential last-16 opponents Mexico, Madueke said: “I think it’d be naive of me to not have my full focus on what the next game is, which is the Congo game.
“I think, God willing, we progress and then focus will switch to whoever the opponent is in the next round, so that’s all I have to say on that.”
England expect a familiar challenge against DR Congo having faced deep blocks on their way to winning Group L.
Having traded blows with Croatia in an open 4-2 victory, Tuchel’s side needed patience to win their final pool match against Panama 2-0 having being held to a 0-0 draw by well-drilled Ghana last Tuesday.
“I feel like not just us, I feel like every team has difficulties with the opposition setting up 11 players in 30 metres of space,” Madueke said. “It’s not easy to break down.
“I think we’ve seen other top nations struggle as well – Spain, Portugal in the last game – so, yeah, it’s just part of football now.
“Of course, when you play England naturally, you’re going to have a defensive approach because of the quality in our team.
“From our perspective we have the same patterns, and we’ll look to try and implement them a little bit better than we did in the last game versus Ghana, which probably will be similar to this one.”
