Harry Kane rescued England from a World Cup shock with two late goals to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Atlanta and secure a place in the last 16.
Aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament, Thomas Tuchel’s men escaped humiliation and one of England’s worst-ever World Cup exits on Wednesday, thanks to their talismanic captain, after Brian Cipenga’s early goal gave DR Congo an early lead.
But England will need to improve for the daunting task of facing cohosts Mexico in the last 16 on Sunday. Already England’s all-time top goalscorer in the competition, Kane now has 13 World Cup goals and moves on to five for the tournament to remain in the star-studded battle for the Golden Boot. The defeat ended DR Congo’s fairytale run on their return to the World Cup for the first time in 52 years.
Tuchel made two changes from the victory over Panama as Declan Rice returned in midfield, while Djed Spence came in at right-back with Reece James and Jarell Quansah both ruled out through injury. The German coach’s decision not to select more specialist right-back cover in a 26-man squad will face more scrutiny after DR Congo took the lead down that flank.
Spence was caught under Chancel Mbemba’s cross as the ball fell for Cipenga. The Almeria winger’s shot was low and hard, but Jordan Pickford should still have kept it out at his near post. A vast majority of the nearly 70,000 crowd decked out in England red and white were silenced, while Tuchel’s players were visibly rattled.
Jude Bellingham was shown a yellow card for a lunge and was then involved in a heated exchange with his coach during the mid-half hydration break. The stoppage in play at least allowed Tuchel the chance to restore order. Bellingham’s powerful header from Rice’s cross finally forced DR Congo keeper Lionel Mpasi into action. Moments later, Marcus Rashford’s powerful effort was blocked on the line by London-born Aaron Wan-Bissaka after Noni Madueke’s jinking run opened up the DR Congo defence. Yet, it could have been even worse for England at the break.
Yoane Wissa’s three goals in the group stage fired his country to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time, and the Newcastle striker had a golden chance to double the DR Congo lead, but hit the outside of the post from point-blank range.
Controversial penalty ends Senegal’s run against Belgium
The penalty awarded against the Senegalese national team in the final moments of their match against Belgium on Wednesday caused widespread controversy after it led to their elimination from the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup, in a harsh turn of events that saw the “Lions of Teranga” go from leading 2-0 to losing 3-2.
Honduran referee Said Martinez awarded a penalty kick at the end of the second period of extra time after an VAR review following a challenge by Senegal’s Lamine Camara on Belgian captain Youri Tielemans with the score tied 2-2 and the match heading towards a penalty shootout.
The “Archivo VAR” platform, which specialises in analysing refereeing decisions, said VAR intervened excessively during the match, confirming that it was Tielemans who extended his foot in front of Camara, causing the contact. The platform said, via its account on X, that the incident did not warrant VAR intervention, explaining that it was the Belgian player who forced the contact entirely.
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