The England national football team hasn’t won the World Cup in 60 years when it beat West Germany 4-2 on home soil.
Since then, the Three Lions were unable to break their World Cup duck. Against the Democratic Republic of Congo, England went down after just seven minutes played when Chancel Mbemba assisted Brian Cipenga for the opener. The English probably got nervous because of this stat:
That is a fascinating
statistic hovering above their heads, so England went forward with everything they have and nearly got a break when Harry Kane went down inside the Congolese box. The referee decided to not award a penalty, much to the chagrin of the English, so Thomas Tuchel’s team had to find another way through. DR Congo stood firm, with Lionel Mpasi in goal making several saves and his teammates putting in challenges to prevent England from scoring a goal.
Kane was not to be denied, however, as Anthony Gordon sent a cross to the Bayern Munich striker who headed it past Mpasi to haul England back into contention with a quarter of an hour left to play. The 32-year-old might’ve just saved Tuchel, another man associated with Bayern as their former coach, from a big embarrassment. Gordon and Kane would link up again just 11 minutes later when Jude Bellingham’s shot was saved by Mpasi but only as far as Gordon, who threaded a pass to Kane who in turn dribbled a bit before firing a powerful “no-look” shot that Mpasi couldn’t stop.
Just like that, England are through to the round of 16 to face Mexico at the Azteca, and a much unwanted record is now put to rest thanks to the one and only Harry Kane.
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