SAN JOSE, Calif. — Joy sandwiched by anxiety is about as profoundly English as anything, and so how fitting was Wednesday afternoon?
The Three Lions escaped Atlanta 2-1 victors over Congo thanks to an utterly heroic Harry Kane brace, their best-ever player scoring what was surely his best-ever international goal in beating a trio of defenders before a cracking 86th-minute finish past Lionel Mpasi.
Before that, it was nail-biting. Afterward, too, given what awaits in the Round of 16, when England travels to face Mexico in front of one of the sport’s greatest backdrops, a roaring Estadio Azteca that 40 years ago was the scene of England’s most famous World Cup defeat.
That match Sunday night in Mexico City has every chance to be an epic occasion, the sort of scene to put an already terrific tournament over the top. Mexico won all three of its group games and cut through Ecuador on Tuesday night, riding the crowd, Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez to a 2-0 win that set off street celebrations deep into the night as far north as San Jose, mere blocks from the U.S. men’s national team’s hotel.
The joy at play there was a contrast from how England has felt this entire tournament, the release of Kane’s magic moments Wednesday aside.
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From leaving off Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Adam Wharton — a decision by Thomas Tuchel that has been questioned before, during and after all four of England’s games, and perhaps the loudest Wednesday — to things as relatively menial as how the North American heat has turned into a daily storyline in the British press, it all feels a bit like the pre-Gareth Southgate England, when every tournament turned into a spectacular crashout.
This England side has more quality than that, and far more mettle. Selection quibbles aside, a veteran Kane with Bundesliga trophies in his pocket, the effervescence of Jude Bellingham and Tuchel’s well-timed substitutions were enough to get England through Wednesday in a match that would have surely doomed those perpetually disappointing teams of yesteryear.
One of the early themes of the knockout rounds — Paraguay’s win over Germany aside — has been that after taking a punch before the first hydration break, the favorites land on their feet and shine through over 90 long and grueling minutes. So it was in Atlanta, when the first hydration break stymied Congo’s momentum and, as shaky as England still was in moments, its opposition never fully regathered itself.
Still, it’s hard not to feel there are glaring holes in this team. Djed Spence was woeful Wednesday; Nico O’Reilly not much better. There’s a lack of creativity and line-breaking passes, all of which feels like a direct result of opting against bringing Palmer, Foden and Wharton to the World Cup. The 0-0 draw to Ghana set off alarm bells that haven’t fully been quieted.
Bellingham was unlucky not to score more than once Wednesday; Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson have proven a strong midfield combination. Tuchel got his substitutions right — Eberechi Eze in particular — and Kane is the sort of player who single-handedly elevates a team’s ceiling. It’s all still in front of England, which has more talent on its bench than so many teams do in their starting lineups.
The moments when England has looked like a true contender at this World Cup, though, have been few and far between, at least since the second half of its opening win over Croatia.
The Three Lions will need so much more of everything against Mexico than they had Wednesday, starting with composure.
Forty years ago, it was the Hand of God, the Goal of the Century and Argentina’s revenge for the Falklands War. Now it will be England against the altitude, the noise and a Mexican team that more and more looks like the genuine article.
