Kane answers again as England edge past DR Congo; USA move on despite red card
A second-half double from Harry Kane lifted England past DR Congo, while the USA sealed progress despite a late red card in a day of late drama at the tournament.
Harry Kane scored twice in the second half to spare England a scare against DR Congo on 2 July 2026, while the United States advanced out of their group despite playing the closing stages a man down. The pair of results shaped a day of late drama at the tournament, with Senegal and Belgium also producing the kind of finish that turns group tables upside down.
The pattern of the day was familiar: a European favourite made heavy weather of a side that travels to these finals to make a point, while a host nation showed the grit that home advantage is supposed to buy. Kane, long the default answer to England's flat spells, was again the difference in a contest that the African side had every right to feel they were still in at the interval.
Kane's second-half rescue
England were sluggish for large stretches of the first half, and DR Congo — organised, athletic and quick on the break — looked the more likely scorers for long periods. The breakthrough came after the restart, with the England captain converting the kind of chance he has made a career of finishing: a ball across the box, a half-yard of space, no hesitation. The second arrived in similar territory and removed any lingering doubt about the result.
It was Kane's second two-goal performance of the group stage, a reminder that even on quiet afternoons his scoring instinct tends to arrive when his team most needs it. The performance will not live long in the memory of those who like their football played at full tempo, but it does the job that knockout football demands: progress, no injuries, the captain on the scoresheet.
The USA's red card and the wider American picture
The United States advanced despite going down to ten men in the closing stages of their fixture, a result that will be read in two directions. For the optimists in the US camp it is evidence of a squad learning how to win ugly, the kind of result that turns a promising tournament into a serious one. For the sceptics it is a warning: the next round will not reward a side that plays an hour with eleven and a closing period with ten.
Either way, the Americans go through. Home crowds have so far done what home crowds usually do — lift the side in moments of pressure, then watch with mounting anxiety as the opposition smells an equaliser. The next test, against a sterner opponent, will reveal which of those readings is correct.
Senegal and Belgium serve up the late show
The day belonged, in storytelling terms, to Senegal and Belgium, whose fixture produced the kind of late twist the group stage lives for. With both sides needing something from the match — one chasing the points to qualify, the other the goal difference to keep alive — the closing minutes carried the tension of a knockout round. The Guardian's World Cup Daily panel, hosted by Max Rushden with Barry Glendenning, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Osasu Obayiuwana, treated the finish as the headline of the evening review.
Belgium's habit of slow starts has been the talking point of their campaign; Senegal's habit of growing into games was, until 2 July, a strength rather than a problem. The collision of those two patterns produced the result, and the Group of Death arithmetic will settle only after the final whistles.
What the day tells us
Three weeks into a tournament, the outlines are becoming clearer. The European heavyweights are moving through, but not all of them are convincing; the African sides are competitive in ways that go beyond the headline results; and the host nation is leaning on the kind of luck that home support tends to manufacture. Kane remains the single most reliable scoring threat in the England side, and probably in the tournament. The USA's route from here will be defined by whether they can play a full ninety at full strength — something they have yet to do.
What remains uncertain, and will only resolve in the round of sixteen, is the identity of the dark horse. DR Congo showed enough on 2 July to suggest they are not the story of the group stage; whether they become the story of the knockout rounds is now a matter of the draw.
This publication framed England's win as a rescue rather than a procession, and treated the USA's progress as a warning shot rather than a statement. The wire consensus read both results as routine; the underlying numbers suggest the margins were thinner than the headlines.