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Captain Harry Kane rescued England on Wednesday from an unexpected World Cup Round of 32 disappointment against the Democratic Republic of Congo with a brace that allowed Thomas Tuchel's side to respond to the opening African goal and prevail 2-1, setting up a July 5 date with Mexico at the Azteca in the Round of 16.
Congo came out without complexes, lining up four center-backs instead of five, and were not afraid to control the pace of the game early on.
Before England could decide whether or not to hand the baton to Desabre's side, a long ball aimed at the space behind the center-backs ended up at Cipenga's feet on the left side of the area, after neither Wissa nor Spence could intercept it.
The Castellón player fired a low shot past Pickford, who could have done better, leaving the English team trailing in this World Cup and facing a bad historical precedent; since the 1966 final, England had never managed to come back and win a World Cup knockout match if they conceded first.
The only consolation was that there were 83 minutes left to play.
The following fifteen minutes were an inventory of English anxiety. They regained focus after the hydration break, and before the half-hour mark, they managed to threaten when Rice found Bellingham in the heart of the box, whose header required the first of what would be several spectacular saves by Mpasi.
Tuchel's pupils turned up the intensity and created another great chance, but a defender cleared Rashford's shot off the line.
These were the best minutes for the Three Lions, who still remained soft in their pressing without the ball. That led to another scare, when Wan-Bissaka left Wissa with an open goal, but the Newcastle player hit the post.
Seconds later, with the English fans still on the verge of a heart attack, a through ball set Kane up against the African goalkeeper, and the English captain went down in the box after sensing contact from Mpasi. The Jordanian referee and VAR ruled that England's all-time top scorer had taken a dive.
There was still time before the break for the Congolese goalkeeper to shine twice more, first against another clean header from Bellingham—who was otherwise absent in the English build-up play—and then a point-blank blast from Kane following a corner kick.
The second half started similarly, with the French-based goalkeeper saving a left-footed strike from Bellingham that took a dangerous deflection off Wan-Bissaka.
However, the Leopards maintained their composure and even continued to take risks going forward.
It was after the hydration break when the German manager raised the stakes, taking off Spence for Eberechi Eze, which moved Rice to right-back and sent the Arsenal player to support the second line of attack.
With more players inside the Congolese box, the English strategy of crossing balls into the area finally worked, as Kane headed in a delivery from Gordon with a quarter of an hour remaining.
England kept their foot on the accelerator as fatigue began to set in for the Congolese, who with five minutes to go opened a path for Bellingham to step into the area on the left flank.
His shot was repelled once again by Mpasi, but the second ball ended up at the feet of Kane, who created space for himself at the edge of the box to launch a thunderbolt that crashed into the top of the net under the gaze of the Congolese goalkeeper.
The English captain continued to grow his legend today with two more goals (he now has five in this World Cup), and the Three Lions will face a Mexico team that is flourishing in their home territory of Estadio Azteca in the Round of 16.
[Publicidad]