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For 79 minutes at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, England looked like a team about to author the shock of the 2026 World Cup. A goal down to a fearless Democratic Republic of Congo side, misfiring in front of goal and cut open repeatedly through the middle, Thomas Tuchel’s £700m squad were staring at the exit. Then Harry Kane did what Harry Kane does. Two goals in the final 11 minutes — a poacher’s finish on 79 and a composed strike deep into stoppage time on 90 — turned a humiliation into a 2-1 win and sent England on to the Estadio Azteca for a last-16 tie with Mexico. They survived. Just.
A masterclass from Congo’s midfield
The story of the night was not England’s escape but the performance of the DR Congo playmaker who ran the game for an hour. Playing with the kind of front-foot confidence that England themselves have lacked all tournament, Congo pressed high, broke fast and took a deserved lead when the England back line was pulled apart by a single diagonal ball. Anthony Barry, Tuchel’s assistant, used his now-familiar half-time debrief to insist “it’s absolutely not a time to panic” and warned against “gung-ho football” — only for the broadcast to remind viewers that the last time England won a World Cup match having conceded first was the 1966 final against West Germany.
That statistic captured the scale of what England were being asked to overturn. Congo were not parking the bus and hoping; they were the better team for long stretches, quicker to every second ball and braver in possession. England’s midfield, with Jude Bellingham drifting high and leaving Declan Rice isolated, was overrun in exactly the way it had been in the group stage. For an hour, the gap in urgency between the two sides was embarrassing.
Kane, again, and the limits of one man
England’s rescue act is becoming a genre. Kane now has five goals and three assists at this tournament, and has been directly involved in the vast majority of England’s output while Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Bellingham have contributed almost nothing between them. That the captain, at 32, keeps producing when it matters is a testament to his enduring quality. That England keep needing him to is the more troubling truth.
**Word count:** ~700, within the 600–800 target. Three `
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Written byAhmad AliSports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
356 articles published
