It ultimately took a sprinkling of stardust from Jude Bellingham to get England over the line against Panama in their final group game. The 2-0 win in New Jersey secured top spot for Three Lions and set up a round-of-32 showdown against Congo DR.
The Central Africa side reached the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history after finishing third in a group that included Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan.
England and Congo DR are separated by 37 places in the FIFA rankings but as Paraguay's triumph over Germany has shown, nothing can be taken for granted in the knockouts.
ESPN Africa correspondent Ed Dove is in North America for the World Cup and provides the lowdown on England's opponents.
Congo have already created history. Will they be playing without any pressure?
ED: They already made history by reaching the tournament after 52 years. They've made history by getting a win, a first-ever win for the country at the World Cup. Obviously considering in 1974, they lost all three games and that poor showing left a bad reputation for Congolese football ... they've done the main thing, which is to change the perception, the global impact of Congolese football at the World Cup. Plus they've got to the knockouts.
I think they'll be under much less pressure than England, but at the same time, you never know when you're going to be back at this stage again. So you don't want to let an opportunity pass you by. There are stakes. So I don't think I'd say they are under no pressure at all. They are a big country, a lot of expectation, a huge population around the world watching them. So there'll definitely be some pressure and some expectation, but not nearly as much as England.
How do you expect them to set up tactically?
ED: I think tactically we'll see Congo revert to how they played against Portugal in the opening game, which is more of a 5-3-2 or a 3-5-2 depending on where the wingbacks are positioned, but more of a five at the back. I think they will try and limit the space through the middle. The wingbacks will try and get Saka, Rashford, Gordon, Madueke into duels and neutralize them. I think they'll try and crowd the midfield with three guys in the center looking to basically cut off the passing lanes, stopping them getting rhythm etc.
I think it'll be kind of similar to the Ghana tactical strategy, but a bit more expansive, probably better athletes and a more dimensional attack.
A word on Yoanne Wissa and how good he has been.
ED: He has been great, particularly considering the difficult season he had. Well, first of all, with injuries, obviously he missed the African Cup of Nations. They didn't take him because he was just recovering from injury so he missed that opportunity to spend a month with the team and build those kind of relationships and that understanding before the World Cup.
Then even at Newcastle, when he got back to fitness, he hasn't looked very good. I think he got one goal all season, which is terrible considering the fee, considering the expectation of replacing [Alexander] Isak. So considering all that, he has been great. Obviously [he scored] the big goal against Portugal to get a point to avoid defeat in your first game, which I think is so important for them. It's not a giant killing, but to get such a big result against [Cristiano] Ronaldo and such a strong team was a great start for them. And then also that lovely curling goal against Uzbekistan in the come from behind win. He has had big moments, he contributes well to the overall team performance and considering what a difficult year he's had, it's been very impressive.
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Apart from him, which Congo player should England be worried about?
ED: I don't know about worried, but midfielder Samuel Moutoussamy is one of my favorite African players and an absolute joy to watch. He's kind of a midfield general, very dynamic, very energetic. He reminds me a bit of Ze Roberto, the old Brazilian utility man in that he's just such an incredible athlete, but has that nice little technical touch in there as well. Great leader, great captain, great inspirational figure for them.
I don't think he's someone who will worry England and someone that necessarily can hurt them going forward. But I think he's someone that I would be definitely telling the team to neutralize, to close out, to stop him having an impact, to quickly silence him, to not let him gain a foothold in the match because he's the kind of guy whose performance can dictate the tempo for Congo and really get them up for a game. Whereas if he's taken out of the equation, I think they're a much weaker team. So he's the one I would watch out for in that midfield battle.
Which England player could thrive against Congo?
ED: Given how I expect the Leopards to set up, I think the players who can really have an impact for England are the fullbacks. So probably Spence and O'Reilly. Such a shame we don't have a more creative and a more technically talented fullback such as Alexander- Arnold present because I think Congo won't play with much attacking width. They'll play with defensive width, which then leaves you a lot of space on the pitch for your fullbacks to attack and to gain territory and to make an impact.
So Spence and O'Reilly are two who I'd really watch who could really have a good game against this Congo team. They're going to be looking for overlaps. They're going to be looking for doubling up on the wings. I think that's probably where you get a big breakthrough. So they're the players I would particularly keep an eye on and it will be a real test for them because they're going to see a lot of the ball. They're both talented, but can they really be difference makers at this level of football from wide areas?
What's something not a lot of people will know about this Congo team?
ED: I would go for the identity of the head coach Sébastien Desabre, who's a very interesting guy, very methodical studious coach. He's managed to keep the Congolese flair and flamboyance, but also made them super organized, super well drilled, super defensively resilient.
He's a bit of a throwback, even though he's quite a modern manager in his approach, in the way that he's one of these classic European journey-men managers who just spent 15 years traveling around Africa. He has managed in Ivory Coast, in Cameroon, Tunisia, Angola, Algeria, Morocco, Uganda, Egypt and now Congo. You used to get a lot of these managers who maybe couldn't make it in the European game or couldn't find the openings, but would travel around African continent and Desabre is another version.
His knowledge of African football is outrageous. His experience in dealing with tactical schemas in so many different countries and territories is also super impressive. And Congo is really his greatest work to date. This is where we're seeing his real masterpiece. He's had success before. He's had success winning Tunisian League, Congolese League, Angolan League, getting Congo to the semis of AFCON, but this is a different level.