ATLANTA (AP) – England withstood the pressure and are now heading to Mexico City.
Harry Kane ensures England avoid early exit from the first 48 squad world cup He scored two second-half goals in a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Congo in the Round of 32 on Wednesday.
After conceding the first goal, England’s second late victory in a World Cup gave the 1966 champions a place in the Round of 16 and the right to play England. Co-host Mexico.
“We just kept hitting the rock. If we keep hitting the rock, our moment will come,” Kane said after scoring his fourth and fifth goals of the tournament. “We talked about people having hero moments. It could be anyone on the team…no matter who it is, we all have hero moments. And for me that was that day.”
The team’s next game will be at the Azteca Stadium, the site of Argentine great Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal that eliminated England from the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup.
It wasn’t easy to get there against a Congo team that nearly pulled off the biggest upset in World Cup history.
The only time England won the World Cup from a 1-0 deficit was in the 1966 final against West Germany at Wembley Stadium.
“That’s a good sign, it just shows the level of determination, the level of belief and the level of focus,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said. “I didn’t feel the weight on their shoulders and you could tell we just played with the right attitude and trusted our spirit.
“The goalkeeper kept making unbelievable saves…but today’s team did not accept defeat as a result.”
Kane confirmed that the early goals conceded was not a problem as he increased his country’s record for top scorers in the competition’s history to 13 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday. Kane holds the record for a total of 84 goals for the national team.
His first goal came in the 75th minute. Substitute Anthony Gordon delivered a cross from the left and Congolese goalkeeper Lionel Mpathi got a hand on Kane’s header, but couldn’t stop it from going into the bottom corner.
Eleven minutes later, Kane put a shot into the top corner of the goal to end any thoughts of an upset.
“When it comes to knockouts, there’s a lot more pressure and a lot more risk. But from an attacking point of view, that was definitely the best fight of the tournament,” Kane said. “Sometimes you have to keep winning and that’s exactly what we did today. I told the players to enjoy it. That’s it. We’ll be back in four days.”
Congo took the lead in the seventh minute when Brian Shipenga crossed on the left side of the box and fired a low shot past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford at the near post.
Mpathi did his best to maintain a 1-0 lead. He thwarted Jude Bellingham three times, blocked two close-range headers before half-time and had another deflected effort after the break.
Kane almost made the breakthrough late in the first half, but his powerful shot at the near post was blocked by Mpathi. The keeper was also involved in a collision with Kane inside the box. England believed a penalty should have been awarded, but referee Adam Makhadome dismissed the appeal.
Congo had a chance to double their lead in the first half when Ioane Ouissa hit the post.
Congo national team coach Sebastien Desabre said, “It’s disappointing because we really believed we could do it.” “We played well. Towards the end of the game, we conceded two chances and one of the best players in the world scored two goals against us. It’s disappointing.”
England’s only major football title came in the 1966 tournament, which was played at home. However, the team has moved even closer to the top in recent years, reaching back-to-back finals at the European Championships and reaching the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Tuchel was appointed to end that winless run. A German, his appointment was a controversial choice given England’s long-standing rivalry with Germany. So anything other than a strong showing at this year’s tournament will likely reignite questions about the wisdom of that decision.
Although they made it through Group L at this year’s World Cup with two wins and one draw, reactions to England’s performance were mixed.
And in a tournament where traditional powers such as Germany and the Netherlands were eliminated early, there were fears that England would follow that trend against the already winning Congolese team. Portugal tied 1-1 in the group stage.
The Congo team, which is ranked 46th, is already made history It was his first goal, score and victory in a World Cup in 52 years, since his only appearance was with Zaire in the 1974 tournament in West Germany.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
