FIFA World Cup 2026: Noni Madueke confident about his ability ahead of clash against DR Congo

Noni Madueke. Pic/AFP

Noni Madueke believes he can be England's spark as Thomas Tuchel's men prepare to face the DR of Congo in the World Cup last 16.

"You have to feel like you're a top player, you're here for a reason, you're playing for your country, you're on a bigger stage. You have to have that excessive confidence in your ability because at the end of the day, alongside your teammates, on that pitch, it's down to you to deliver. So whatever gets you in that mind frame to be able to do that, I feel like that's good," said Madueke.

About the prospect of facing a side which is likely to sit back and stifle the Three Lions, Madueke said: "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 game against Ghana [0-0 draw], which probably will be similar to this one."

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever