Soccer
Two things we liked, two we didn't like as England overcome Congo to advance to last-16
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England required the full weight of Harry Kane's tournament pedigree to escape what would have been an embarrassing exit.
Congo DR, making their first World Cup knockout appearance, took a seventh-minute lead through Brian Cipenga and defended it stubbornly for over an hour, with goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau producing save after improbable save.
It took Thomas Tuchel's double substitution at 61 minutes to shift the balance, and even then England needed Kane to find two goals in eleven minutes—a 75th-minute header and an 86th-minute right-footed finish, both assisted by substitute Anthony Gordon—to complete a 2–1 comeback that flattered neither their composure nor their finishing.
Kane delighted to deliver England 'hero' moment
Two Things We Liked
Harry Kane's late intervention rescued England's tournament
For seventy-five minutes, Kane had been peripheral to proceedings—blocked by Axel Tuanzebe when through on goal, denied from close range by Mpasi-Nzau, unable to get on the ball in dangerous areas.
Then, in the space of eleven minutes, he delivered precisely what England have always asked of him at tournaments.
His first, a firm header at the back post from Anthony Gordon's cross, demonstrated the predatory timing that has defined his international career.
His second was better: a controlled touch with his left foot, a sharp shift onto his right to evade Chancel Mbemba, and a fierce rising strike at 112 km/h that Mpasi-Nzau could only watch enter the top corner.
England's captain now has five goals in this World Cup and a place in the Round of 16, earned by doing what he has always done when it matters most.
Lionel Mpasi-Nzau's heroics deserved a different outcome
The Le Havre goalkeeper produced one of the individual performances of the tournament, repeatedly frustrating England when a goal seemed inevitable.
Jude Bellingham found space unmarked at the back post on two separate occasions in the first half; both times, Mpasi-Nzau flung himself across goal to push away headers that appeared destined for the net.
He denied Kane from close range late in the first period, adjusted brilliantly to save from Bellingham again in the second half, and kept Congo DR ahead long past the point when the pressure suggested they would buckle.
That his efforts ultimately counted for nothing does not diminish how remarkable they were; without him, this match might have been settled before half-time.
Tuchel highlights key factor in England's dramatic comeback win
Two Things We Didn't Like
Djed Spence's positioning cost England an early deficit
The right-back endured a difficult evening that began with a critical error for Cipenga's opener.
When Chancel Mbemba delivered his diagonal pass from the right, Spence had drifted centrally to track Noah Sadiki's decoy run, leaving the far post entirely unguarded.
Cipenga arrived unmarked behind the defence, controlled, and finished—a goal that owed as much to Spence's positioning as to the quality of the move.
The problems did not stop there; Tuchel's visible frustration from the touchline suggested ongoing concern, and by 70 minutes Spence had been replaced by Eberechi Eze, with Declan Rice dropping to cover right-back.
A night to forget for a player handed a starting role ahead of more established options.
England's profligacy prolonged their own anxiety
Long before Kane's late rescue, England had created enough to be comfortable.
A Bellingham header was cleared off the line by the diving Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Marcus Rashford's close-range effort met the same fate.
Bellingham's two other headers drew outstanding saves from Mpasi-Nzau, but England also failed to convert chances where the goalkeeper was beaten—Rashford heading over from a good position, Kane blocked by Tuanzebe when one-on-one.
The pattern was consistent: England could fashion openings but could not finish them, leaving themselves vulnerable to a single Congolese counter-attack for far longer than a side of their resources should have been.
That it took substitutes to change the picture underlined how frustrating their first-half finishing had become.
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