opponents

Heart of Midlothian will meet Fenerbahce or Gornik Zabrze if they get past Sturm Graz in Champions League qualifying.

Third round ties are scheduled for 4/5 and 11/12 August.

If Hearts lose out to the Austrians, St Gallen (SWI)/Benfica (POR), Twente (NED)/Ferencvaros (HUN) or Qarabag (AZE)/CSKA Sofia (BUL) await in the Europa League.

Like the Edinburgh club, Fenerbahce and Gornik Zabrze finished as runners-up last season in Turkey and Poland respectively.

Hearts last took part in Champions League qualifying in 2006-07, losing out at the third qualifying round stage to AEK Athens.

Rangers, Motherwell and Hibernian await news of their potential European opponents when the third qualifying round draws are made for the Europa League and Conference League.

Rangers are seeded and will play either Hammarby (SWE)/Anderlecht (BEL), Hajduk Split (CRO)/Pafos (CYP), Tromso (NOR)/Hradec Kralove (CZE) or Jagellonia Bialystok (POL).

In the Conference League, Motherwell take on Faroese outfit HB, with LNZ Cherkasy (UKR)/Gent (BEL), Besiktas (TUR)/FC Midtjylland (DEN), HJK Helsinki (FIN)/Coleraine (NIR), Twente (NED)/Ferencvaros (HUN) or RFS (Lat)/Vestri (ISL) waiting for the winners.

Meanwhile, Hibs are up against Kosovan side FK Malisheva with their potential next round opponents coming from NK Bravo (SVN)/KF Shkendija (MKD), FC Santa Coloma (AND)/SK Rapid (AUT), Rakow (POL)/Valetta (MLT), NK Rijeka (CRO)/Derry City (IRL) or FC Polissya (UKR)/FC Copenhagen (DEN).

Russian authorities have continued to clamp down on what little domestic opposition remains in the country by detaining a well-known blogger and moving to prevent a local politician from running for parliament.

Blogger Ilya Remeslo was a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin until he staged a dramatic about-turn last March, calling the president a “war criminal and thief” and saying he should resign.

He has now been remanded in custody for two months on suspicion of spreading false information against the military.

Separately, Boris Nadezhdin has been convicted of “displaying extremist symbols”, a ruling that bars him from collecting signatures for parliamentary elections in September.

Nadezhdin, 63, came to prominence two years ago, when he tried to stand for the presidency on an anti-war platform, but was eventually barred because electoral authorities ruled that signatures he had submitted were flawed.

Few genuine opposition politicians are left in Russia, and former MP Nadezhdin has styled himself more as a pro-peace politician.

Most have gone into exile abroad, while the most prominent figure, Alexei Navalny, died suddenly in a penal colony in the Arctic in February 2024. Russia said he died of natural causes but the UK and four European countries , externalhave said they are confident he was “poisoned with a lethal toxin”.

Nadezhdin was initially declared a “foreign agent” last week before being detained on Monday over a video he reposted in 2023 that briefly showed an image of Navalny. He has also been barred from leaving Russia.

Being declared a foreign agent would most likely have barred him from running for office, but until he was convicted for “extremist symbols” a legal loophole meant he could still have gathered signatures to register as a candidate.

He can still appeal against the ruling, which fined him 1,000 roubles (£9.50; $13).

Nadezhdin suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes, and briefly fell when he appeared in court in his hometown of Dolgoprudny just to the north of Moscow.

Denying the charges against him, he said their real aim was to shut him up and stop him running for the Duma (Russian parliament). He also told the court he would not be able to pay any fine because all his accounts had been frozen.

Later on Friday, blogger Remeslo also appeared in court and was remanded in pre-trial detention for two months. His lawyer said he had been taken to Moscow after being detained hours earlier in his home city of St Petersburg.

If there were such a thing as a mid-table team at the World Cup, it would probably be Mexico. They are almost ever-present, yet no side has played as many matches at the tournament – 64 in total – without lifting the trophy.

Their supporters can be demanding but expectations were more modest this summer. However, the co-hosts ended a 40-year wait for a knockout win by beating Ecuador, so confidence will be raised for their match against England.

The failure to reach an elusive fifth game – the curse of the ‘quinto partido’ – plagued Mexico for generations. El Tri went out in the round of 16 at seven consecutive World Cups between 1994 and 2018, before ending that sequence in the worst possible way in Qatar, where they exited at the group stage.

Since then, Mexico have hired and fired two coaches before bringing back the vastly experienced Aguirre for a third spell in charge in 2024.

No stone has been left unturned in his preparations. El Tri played 22 matches over the past year before the tournament began, giving Aguirre ample scope to experiment with tactics and personnel. He used 54 players in that time, fewer than half of whom made the final squad.

Those who did are well drilled now, especially the 12 domestic-based players. Most were told to report for training on 6 May, meaning some squad members were in camp for five weeks by the start of the World Cup.

Who is DR Congo’s head coach?

This is Frenchman Sebastien Desabre’s 11th coaching role in Africa.

The 49-year-old has qualified DR Congo for successive Africa Cup of Nations, reaching the semi-finals in 2023, as well as the World Cup. He had previous success with Uganda.

How did DR Congo get to the last 32?

They earned the first World Cup point in their history by holding strongly-fancied Portugal to a 1-1 draw but then lost 1-0 to Colombia. That left DR Congo needing to beat Uzbekistan, which they duly did 3-1 to progress to the last 32 as one of the best third-placed teams.

Where can I watch DR Congo?

Their last-32 tie against England will be live on BBC One on Wednesday 1 July, with build-up from 16:00 BST.

The match will also be covered live on BBC Radio 5 Live, the BBC Sport website and app.

Give me a fact to impress my friends

Superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga, who went viral at the Africa Cup of Nations for his eye-catching patriotism during games, has been included in DR Congo’s official World Cup delegation at the request of the players.

Since 2013, Mboladinga has worn colourful suits and silently imitated a statue of revered revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba, with one arm raised, for entire matches.

Now give me some proper detail

The Congolese proverb little by little, grow the bananas emphasises the virtues of patience and steady progress. But during the national football team’s 52-year gap between World Cups – the joint-fourth longest of any nation – patience has been exhausted and progress stalled. Until now.

There has been a determination to change the country’s World Cup narrative after a 1974 debut that left them ripe for ridicule. Zaire, as DR Congo was then known, lost all three games – including 9-0 against Yugoslavia.

Then came the infamous moment when right-back Mwepu Ilunga charged out of a defensive wall to boot the ball away as Brazil lined up a free-kick.

Bemused onlookers were unaware it was an act of political protest. The players had learned their expected wages and bonuses wouldn’t be paid – and Zaire President Mobutu then threatened them with exile if they lost by more than three goals against Brazil.

By kicking the ball away, Ilunga had hoped to waste time and get sent off. He was only booked and Zaire lost 3-0; they were allowed home but President Mobutu cut their funding.

Ever since, the 1968 and 1974 African champions have been kept on the game’s periphery by a combination of conflict, corruption, poor football governance and a lack of facilities.

Current head coach Desabre has brought in fresh talent from the vast Congolese diaspora – all but six of the World Cup squad were born in Europe – and the nation is now seeing the fruits of his endlessly patient nurturing.

How have DR Congo done at previous World Cups?

The central African nation has only played in the World Cup once before – in 1974, when the country was named Zaire. They lost all three group games without scoring, including 9-0 against Yugoslavia.

England did not want to go through the play-offs but were given an unkind draw in the qualifying groups when they met world champions Spain.

It does mean, however, that Sarina Wiegman’s side are in a strong position for the play-offs and will fancy their chances with a kind trip to Greece in October.

They beat potential round two opponents Ukraine in both matches in the qualifying group stage, which will give them confidence too.

There is a tricky tie for Northern Ireland, who come up against a talented young squad from Portugal in round one. Portugal twice beat Northern Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying.

Their task gets trickier if they make it through to round two with potential opponents Iceland proving to be difficult to break down in their matches against England this year.

Scotland are hoping to reach just their second Women’s World Cup finals having failed to qualify in 2023.

They performed well in this year’s qualifying group stages, including draws with Belgium that showed they can compete with Europe’s strongest teams.

They will need to produce their best in round two if they meet big-hitters Sweden, who have been semi-finalists in the past two Women’s World Cup finals.

Wales have never beaten a top-20 ranked nation in a competitive fixture and are likely to need to do so to qualify – and their away form needs improvement.

But Rhian Wilkinson’s side face familiar opponents in round one. They thrashed Albania 4-0 in their qualifying group so who says they can’t do it again?

Meanwhile, having performed superbly in qualifying, the Republic of Ireland have a tricky play-off route with established European opposition Belgium potentially waiting in round two.

First, Carly Ward’s side will have to navigate a 3,100-mile trip to Kazakhstan, against relatively unknown opposition.