A late brace from Harry Kane propelled England into the World Cup round of 16 with a nervy 2-1 win over Congo DR.
Thomas Tuchel's side got off to the worst possible start in the seventh minute when the unthinkable happened -- Congo DR took the lead. Former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba was allowed to amble out of the back line and send a searching ball towards the box, where the ball carried over Djed Spence and landed at the feet of Brian Cipenga. The winger still had a lot to do but rifled a shot past Jordan Pickford at his near post before somersaulting away in celebration.
England came to life after the first hydration break and Congo DR needed some goal-line heroics from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Lionel Mpasi to deny Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham, respectively. But those chances came either side of a huge chance for Yoane Wissa, who diverted Wan-Bissaka's cross onto the post from four yards out.
Harry Kane will also have felt aggrieved not to be given a penalty late in the first half when he touched the ball beyond goalkeeper Mpasi and felt contact, but looked up to see referee Adham Makhadmeh indicating that he had gone over too easily.
After another slow start to the second half, it took the second hydration break for England to finally find an equaliser. Anthony Gordon, on as a substitute minutes earlier, collected Declan Rice's overhit cross and dinked it back across goal, where Kane escaped the attentions of Axel Tuanzebe and headed the ball beyond Mpasi, much to the relief of everyone in white.
That relief turned to joy 11 minutes later when Kane struck again, collecting Gordon's pass on the edge of the box before turning and shooting high into Mpasi's net to secure a narrow victory for England.
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Harry Kane spares England's blushes again
If England are going to go on and win the World Cup from here -- and that looks a big if on current evidence -- then they might well need Kane to win it all by himself.
England carried little threat for large stretches of both halves, particularly before each hydration break. Their wingers in particular looked non-existent for much of the contest, epitomised when Bukayo Saka -- only just on as a substitute -- failed to controlled a cross-field pass and watched it bounce harmlessly out for a throw-in. You got the sense that the boos which followed were not only in response to the referee signalling for the hydration break.
Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford did not fare much better, and while Anthony Gordon provided the assist for both goals and deserves credit, Kane still had so much to do with each finish.
But, in Kane, England have a player who might possibly be the best in the world right now. The Bayern Munich man seemingly reaches a new milestone with every game, and now has more World Cup goals than Pelé. It's now 20 goals in major tournaments for the 32-year-old and 84 in total.
Bellingham called his teammate England's greatest ever player following the victory over Panama. England will need to be so much better if they are to go much further in this tournament. But if they do, it might end up being hard to argue with Bellingham.
Hydration break energises England
Much has been said about the tendency of the hydration breaks to change the momentum of a game. On Wednesday, that very much worked in England's favour.
Tuchel's side were desperately poor for the first 22 minutes, going behind in the seventh minute after some shaky defending and failing to register a single shot or touch in Congo DR's box.
But they sparked into life afterwards, with all of Bellingham, Rashford and Kane forcing Wan-Bissaka and the excellent Mpasi into goalline clearances.
Tuchel may have thought that he'd cracked it, that his team would go back out for the second half and put it right. What followed, for another 22 minutes, resembled the kind of toothless, hesitant display that had got England in such trouble to begin with.
Once again, it took the hydration break -- one in which Tuchel delivered the message to his players in a notably animated fashion -- for England to arrest the slide. This time, Mpasi would not be able to keep out the onslaught.
Team lineups
England: Pickford; Spence (Eze 70'), Konsa, Guehi, O'Reilly; Anderson, Rice (Stones 91'), Bellingham; Madueke (Saka 61'), Rashford (Gordon 61'), Kane
Unused substitutes: Chalobah, D.Henderson, J.Henderson, Burn, Mainoo, Rogers, Watkins, Toney, Trafford, James, Quansah
Goals: Kane (75') (86')
Congo DR: Mpasi; Wan-Bissaka, Mbemba, Tuanzebe, Masuaku (J.Kayembe 89'); Mukau (E.Kayembe 76'), Moutoussamy (Mayele 89'), Sadiki; Mbuku (Elia 64'), Cipenga (Bongonda 76'), Wissa
Unused substitutes: Bakambu, Banza, Batubinsika, Epolo, Fayulu, Kakuta, Kalulu, Kapuadi, Pickel, Tshibola
Goals: Cipenga (7')
Snapshot from the match
Key stats
Harry Kane has now passed Pelé and moved into sixth place for the most goals at World Cups, tying Just Fontaine on 13.
Wednesday's game was only the second time that England have won a World Cup knockout game having conceded the first goal. The first was the 1966 World Cup final, which they won 4-2 against West Germany.
England are now unbeaten in 10 World Cup games against African opponents, the most games without a loss by any team against CAF nations.
Wednesday was the first time England have ever won a World Cup match after trailing at halftime.
Harry Kane is the first Englishman to score five or more goals at two different World Cups. He is now one goal behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé in this year's Golden Boot race.
Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford made their 15th World Cup appearances, the most by any English men's outfield players.
Brian Cipenga's goal was the earliest England have conceded in the World Cup knockout stage since Gabriel Batistuta scored in the sixth minute for Argentina in 1998.
Anthony Gordon became the first man since 1966 to provide two assists off the bench in a World Cup knockout stage game.