Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And for Thomas Tuchel's England at the 2026 World Cup, that man is undoubtedly Harry Kane.
The Three Lions were heading to what would have been a painful last-32 exit at the hands of DR Congo who had taken a shock lead after just seven minutes through Brian Cipenga.
Goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi was having sensational game for the African side – denying Jude Bellingham in particular on multiple occasions – as the clock ticked agonisingly away as English frustration and tension built-up.
Then, with 15 minutes left, Kane stepped up. He was in the right place to head home a leveller to send teammates and supporters wild with relief. But the 32-year-old striker was not finished as he bludgeoned home a magnificent winner to send England through to the last-16 where they will take on co-hosts Mexico.
“It feels amazing to be honest,” Kane told BBC Sport. “What a crazy game. They are a tough team and then after that first break we were much better and their keeper made some unbelievable saves. We spoke about people having hero moments and it can be anyone. It was me today.
“We spoke all week about just being ourselves. There are still things to work on for sure and these rounds are just about getting through. We are in the part of the tournament when you have to grind wins out, and that's what we have done today.”
Make no bones about it, England's start to the game was dreadful with Jordan Pickford badly at fault for the opening goal.
Stand-in right-back Djed Spence was left isolated as a flicked-on cross into the box went over his head and ended up at the feet of Cipenga whose low strike beat goalkeeper Pickford at his near post.
The Three Lions looked stunned and the nerves obvious. Bellingham soon found himself in the book for a reckless tackle on Nathanael Mbuku, Marcus Rashford's poor touch took the ball straight out of play, while the players' body language generally was poor.
England finally came to life after the first hydration break, with ears likely still ringing from Tuchel's frantic team-talk.
First, a Declan Rice free-kick flew wide via the knee of Ezri Konza, although the Aston Villa defender clearly knew little about it.
Bellingham saw a header well saved by Mpasi when he really should have scored, while Kane's shot was blocked superbly by defender Axel Tuanzebe. The best chance of the lot fell to Marcus Rashford but his low strike was blocked on the line Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
England were now banging loudly on the door but after all that pressure, it was Congo who narrowly missed going two up when Yoane Wissa hit the outside of the post with a shot following a deflected Wan-Bissaka cross.
Back up the other end, Kane thought he had won a penalty after being clipped by Mpasi while running through on goal only for Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh and VAR to disagree.
Mpasi then produced a stunning save to keep out another flying Bellingham header and also blocked a thumping volley from Kane to maintain his team's lead going into the break.
It was more of the same from England after half-time with Rashford left frustrated after shooting into the side netting from a tight angle.
Bellingham could then only look on in disbelief as his deflected cross was somehow kept out of the net by a contorted Mpasi before Chancel Mbemba cleared his parry into the air off the line.
But still the goal would not come. Tuchel replaced wingers Rashford and Noni Madueke with Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Sake, while defender Spence was sacrificed for attacker Eberechi Eze. Declan Rice was moved to the right-hand side as England went for broke.
Then, with 15 minutes left, the breakthrough was finally made. It inevitably came from Kane who expertly headed home a dinked Gordon cross – although Mpasi, for all his previous saves, should have done better – for his fourth goal of the tournament.
England could now smell blood. Bellingham was again denied by Mpasi but the ball was recycled to Gordon who fed Kane whose first touch was perfect and the Bayern Munich striker smashed a cracking strike into the roof of the net in the 86th minute.
Kane's 13th World Cup goal took him above Pele and his fifth in these finals, leaves him one behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in the Golden boot race.
Job done for England but there will have to be a drastic improvement when they take on a Mexico side that has won all four of their games so far, at the Azteca Stadium on Monday.
“We kept believing. We had the worst start possible,” said manager Tuchel after a draining 90 minutes. “First shot, first goal. Then, it became even more difficult. After the first water break, we were on top of the game. I think we should have had a penalty. The substitutes came on, and put the effort in, and we won it. Well deserved, but we had to work a lot.
“We have to have that mindset if it is getting hard, it is getting hard, but don't lose patience and don't lose belief. The guy [Mpasi] was incredible the kind of saves he was making.”
