World Cup 2026: Harry Kane pulls off England’s great rescue against DR Congo

The British response was an outburst of celebration and a great deal of relief; A largely dreadful performance was turned into a dramatic victory by their superb captain.

The celebration was for a place in the last 16.

That relief will fall on Tuchel, who will certainly not be spared such embarrassment if England lose, regardless of a contract extension.

It was also a relief for the Football Federation, which had so much confidence in the German player and gave him the task of winning this World Cup.

And it all depended on Kane.

Kane attracts superiority and respect like a magnet. Every bit of it was deserved, as evidenced by the statistics his latest success leaves behind.

As the race for the Golden Boot becomes a sprint between Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi, who now has five goals this World Cup, Tuchel says: “They’re all sharks. They smell blood.”

Tuchel added: “Are the big men in this World Cup watching each other? Then they say ‘it won’t happen with me, then I score, then I score a hat-trick, then you leave’. What’s going on? It’s crazy.”

“Harry is very, very good. He is our captain. He is our leader. He decides football matches with incredible results and he did that twice here. The second was a magnificent goal.”

Kane has now overtaken Pele to sit sixth on the all-time World Cup goalscorers list with 13 goals and has 84 goals for England, putting him level with the legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, who sits ninth on the all-time international goalscorers list.

He became the first England player to score two goals since Gary Lineker’s World Cup qualifying match against Cameroon in 1990. Kane has scored five knockout goals in a World Cup so far. Only Lineker, who scored six goals for England, has scored more.

The most striking thing is that he scored 72 goals in 62 matches for the club and national team this season; 11 of them are in England and 61 are in Bayern Munich.