World Cup Story Feed
World Cup Story Feed
The first shot by DR Congo, in the 7th minute, the ball went in.
Democratic Republic of Congo's first shot on goal, in the seventh minute, went in.
That was their first-ever goal in a World Cup knockout match. England's equalizer wouldn't come until the 75th minute.
In the 68 minutes in between, all you could hear was "Wonderwall"—England fans belting it out in the stands after the match. But if you cover the score and rewatch the game, that song felt pretty hollow. Kane put the ball in the net in the 86th minute, making it 2-1, and England secured their spot in the World Cup round of 16. The media hung the stat "England's first comeback from a goal down in a World Cup match since the 1966 final" like a medal for a day, but anyone who knows the game was sweating bullets.
Tuchel's pre-match tactical plan was dead by halftime.
The right flank was a vacuum. Reece James was injured, Quansah was injured, and Alexander-Arnold was left out of the squad. Tuchel pushed Spence to right-back, and that flank was repeatedly torn apart by Congo's high press. At halftime, Tuchel was forced to move Rice from defensive midfield to right-back to plug the hole. Rooney cut to the chase on BBC after the match: "Once Rice moved to right-back, we definitely played better."
The man who saved England was sitting on the bench.
Anthony Gordon came on in the 61st minute, set up Kane's first goal in the 75th, and then the second in the 86th. No substitute in World Cup history had ever provided two assists in a knockout match—Gordon was the first. A substitute winning Man of the Match—where does that leave the starting eleven? Gordon came on and solved the problem with two passes. So what was the midfield feeding Kane in the first 70 minutes?
Dig into the stats, and England's flaws are laid bare.
Possession: 59.7%. Shots: 16 to Congo's 7. Chances created: 14 to 4. First-half xG—expected goals—was 1.18 for England, 0.69 for Congo. xG of 1.18 means they created enough chances to score at least one goal, but they came up empty. Congo scored with their first shot of the match. Even Bellingham, singled out for praise by Kane, was stuck in midfield quicksand, unable to deliver a killer pass. For 75 minutes, the scoreboard read 0-1. England passed the ball around like prayer beads but couldn't crack the lock.
Kane said after the match: "It was just about pounding the rock, keep pounding the rock and our moment would come."
Keep pounding that rock, and eventually, it cracks. Kane cracked it. Four goals in five games this World Cup, tied for third on the scoring chart. He surpassed Lineker to become England's all-time top scorer in World Cups. His 91st match as England captain, surpassing Bobby Moore and Billy Wright.
But the better Kane's stats get, the more glaring England's problems become.
Tuchel said after the match, "I never considered taking Kane off." Don't mistake that for trust—it's him covering his back with the FA: there's no Plan B. Two years ago, in the Champions League semifinal, Tuchel subbed Kane off in the 85th minute, and Bayern then conceded two goals to Real Madrid to be knocked out. That score is still hanging over him. Now he says "never considered subbing him off"—it's more like paying off that 85th-minute debt.
The Azteca Stadium awaits England.
July 5th, at an altitude of about 2,200 meters—the highest venue of this World Cup and the highest for any World Cup match since 1986. England has only four days to recover. The Mexicans have been acclimating to the altitude since the group stage; England just came up from sea level. Four days isn't enough physiologically to adapt to high altitude. Going from sea level straight to Lhasa—your lungs don't care about your willpower.
The last time England came from behind to win a World Cup match was 1966.
Sixty years. The FA needs to wake up: this team is rarely pushed to the edge, and when they actually fall off, they don't even know how to flail. The Azteca is the next hurdle. How far England goes in this World Cup depends on whether Kane's legs can handle the oxygen debt at that altitude.