Harry Kane scored two late goals to give England a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over DR Congo at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Atlanta on July 1. England advance to the last 16, where they face co-hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday.
What a way to do it! England were staring down the barrel of one of their most embarrassing World Cup exits in history, only for Harry Kane to ride to the rescue once again. Two goals in the final 15 minutes. A nation’s nerves finally settled. The Three Lions are through to the last 16, and it was their captain who carried them there.
It didn’t look pretty for long stretches of Wednesday’s round-of-32 clash at Atlanta Stadium. Brian Cipenga put DR Congo ahead early, catching England cold with a low, hard shot that crept inside Jordan Pickford’s near post. A goal Pickford really should have kept out. The near-70,000 crowd, draped almost entirely in England’s red and white, fell eerily silent. On the touchline, Thomas Tuchel looked rattled.
And here’s the thing, DR Congo were genuinely dangerous. Yoane Wissa, the Newcastle striker whose three group-stage goals fired his country into the knockouts for the first time in their history, went agonizingly close to doubling the lead before halftime, hitting the outside of the post from point-blank range. That miss would prove costly.
England huffed and puffed. Jude Bellingham yellow-carded for a reckless lunge and visibly frustrated launched powerful headers that DR Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi turned away with stunning reflexes. Marcus Rashford had an effort blocked on the line. Kane went down in the box, appealing desperately for a penalty that never came. Mpasi was having the game of his life, and England were running out of ideas.
Then Tuchel made his move. On came Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, and Eberechi Eze—three fresh, attacking legs to inject some urgency into a performance that had been crying out for exactly that. The impact was almost immediate. Gordon, fresh from completing his move to Barcelona, swung in a cross with 15 minutes to go, and Kane finally found a way past Mpasi with a downward header. 1-1. Exhale.
The stadium erupted. But England weren’t done. Four minutes from time, Gordon delivered again—and Kane did the rest, rifling a powerful drive into the roof of the net for his 84th international goal and his fifth of this tournament. That’s 13 World Cup goals in total for Kane, cementing his status as England’s all-time leading scorer in the competition. Extraordinary numbers from an extraordinary player.
Tuchel, speaking after the final whistle, was honest about the difficulty of the match while crediting his players’ mentality. “We have to have that mindset. If it is getting hard, don’t lose patience, don’t lose belief,” he said. Kane echoed his manager: “You have to stay patient in these games. The last couple of games were very similar. In knockout football, the pressure and stakes are higher.”
For DR Congo, the defeat ends a fairytale run. The Leopards returned to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years and they didn’t just show up, they genuinely threatened to pull off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets. They had never won a point or scored a goal at a World Cup until a few weeks ago. Now they leave with their heads held high.
England, meanwhile, have bigger problems to solve. The performance was far from convincing, and their next opponents are considerably tougher. Sunday’s last-16 tie brings a trip to Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca, where co-hosts Mexico will be backed by a roaring home crowd fresh off their own 2-0 win over Ecuador. Kane knows what’s coming: “Away in Mexico against Mexico. We are in the part of the tournament where we have to grind out results.”
Grind is right. England are through but they’ll need to be a whole lot better if they’re going to end that 60-year wait for a major tournament triumph.