Kane outdoes Pelé as skipper bails England out
England rarely do things the easy way, do they? And the Three Lions survived an almighty scare before eventually making their quality count against DR Congo in the Round of 32.
Brian Cipenga’s early strike for the Leopards had England reeling in Atlanta, and it wasn’t until after half-time that Thomas Tuchel’s men started to assert their superiority, with the introduction of Anthony Gordon on the hour mark making a decisive difference.
DR Congo’s stubborn rearguard action – backed up by some brilliant saves from goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau – was finally worn down after 75 minutes, Harry Kane heading in the equaliser from Gordon’s floated cross.
And England’s captain and figurehead was at it again with four minutes to go, receiving the ball from Gordon before shimmying away from his man and smashing a ferocious winner into the roof of the net. Kane now has 13 World Cup goals – taking him past Pelé – and five at this tournament alone.
England will face probably their toughest test so far in the Round of 16 when they take on co-hosts Mexico at the inhospitable Azteca on Sunday night.
Captain Tielemans’ double late show rescues Belgium
“It’s the most unlikely comeback I’ve ever seen,” said Premier League legend turned UK TV pundit Ian Wright of Belgium’s scarcely believable turnaround against Senegal.
Youri Tielemans’ decisive penalty, five minutes into stoppage time at the end of extra time, was the latest goal in World Cup history – though that wasn’t the only record the Belgians broke in Seattle.
Earlier, Rudi Garcia’s Red Devils had recovered from two goals down later than any team in 90 minutes at the World Cup, having trailed 2-0 with four minutes to go before the heroics of substitute Romelu Lukaku – who just always shows up for his country – and skipper Tielemans, scorer of the 89th-minute equaliser.
While Senegal are left scratching their heads as to how they could have let such an advantage slip in a game they had dominated up until that point, Belgium return to Seattle for a last-16 showdown with co-hosts the USA.
USMNT hold their nerve to make it three out of three
All three host nations are into the last 16 after Mauricio Pochettino’s USA completed the set in somewhat nervy fashion, seeing off Bosnia and Herzegovina despite having Folarin Balogun sent off.
Having broken the deadlock on the stroke of half-time in San Francisco with his third goal of the tournament, Balogun – following a VAR check – received a straight red midway through the second half for serious foul play.
But Malik Tillman’s late free-kick extinguished any threat of a Bosnian fightback as the States secured their first World Cup knockout win since 2002.
The next trio of last-32 ties begins with pre-tournament favourites Spain taking on Austria in Los Angeles, before another all-European encounter sees two veteran skippers go head-to-head as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal meet Luka Modrić’s Croatia in Toronto.
It’s then over to the far west of Canada for Switzerland vs Algeria in Vancouver.
Portuguese confidence meets Croatian resilience with old heads at the heart
“We’re very confident that we’ll beat Croatia,” Portugal’s João Félix boldly proclaimed ahead of this clash.
But Portugal failed to break down DR Congo or Colombia, drawing with both in the group stage, and Croatia showed great resilience to respond to their opening 4-2 loss to England with victories over Panama and Ghana.
Whatever the result at the Toronto Stadium, though, this will surely be the final World Cup farewell for one of the true modern greats. Ronaldo, 41, and Modrić, 40, have amassed some 47 appearances in the competition between them – though the former has yet to score a knockout goal…
Spain eyeing Austria revenge as they look to clear next hurdle
After labouring to a shock 0-0 draw with surprise package Cape Verde in their tournament opener, Spain recorded back-to-back wins to top their group and now have some idea of what their potential path to a second World Cup final looks like.
Hoping to scupper their quest for glory are Austria, making their first knockout appearance since the World Cup was held in Spain way back in 1982 – having booked their last-32 spot through Saša Kalajdžić’s last-gasp equaliser against Algeria.
Spain arrive in LA as one of just two teams (alongside Mexico) yet to concede at these finals; Austria won the only previous major tournament meeting between the sides 2-1 in the first group stage of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
Entertainment expected as Switzerland encounter familiar face in Algeria dugout
This could be a high-scoring one: Switzerland and Algeria’s combined six group games featured some 22 goals all in all.
Both countries found the net twice or more in two of their three group matches – and both managed three or more goals in a single outing (Switzerland beating Bosnia 4-1, Algeria drawing 3-3 with Austria) – with neither keeping a clean sheet along the way.
The tie also sees Switzerland run into their long-time former manager Vladimir Petković – who led them to the last 16 of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Can they stop him from masterminding Algeria’s maiden World Cup knockout win?
