{"id":738482,"date":"2026-07-02T07:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/738482\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T07:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:37:26","slug":"let-the-children-watch-tuchel-on-englands-1am-bst-kick-off-after-kane-rescue-act-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/738482\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Let the children watch\u2019: Tuchel on England\u2019s 1am BST kick-off after Kane rescue act | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Kane came to England\u2019s rescue as they avoided a seismic World Cup upset<\/a> against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to set up a last-16 tie against co-hosts Mexico next week.<\/p>\n

The Bayern Munich striker scored twice in the last 15 minutes to save manager Thomas Tuchel\u2019s blushes after Brian Cipenga had given the African side a shock early lead. It was the first time that England have won a game at the World Cup<\/a> after conceding the first goal since beating West Germany in the 1966 final at Wembley.<\/p>\n

England looked extremely disjointed during the first half in Atlanta, where it is estimated around 10,000 Three Lions supporters made the trip for the game that kicked off at midday local time and 5pm in the UK. But having been denied on several occasions by the DRC goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi, Kane finally equalised with 15 minutes remaining before smashing home the winner just before the end of normal time.<\/p>\n

It means England will now travel to the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City \u2013 where Diego Maradona scored his infamous \u201cHand of God\u201d goal against them for Argentina 40 years ago in the 1986 World Cup \u2013 for their next game. That is due to kick off at 1am on Monday UK time but Tuchel said he hoped that many children back home would be allowed to stay up and watch the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWrite an excuse for school and let them watch football,\u201d said the England head coach. \u201cThey have so much school to go to, but the World Cup is every four years. Let them watch, there will be a big, big match in four days and we need the support of everyone and especially of the children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kane \u2013 who has now scored 13 goals at the World Cup finals, extending the record he took from Gary Lineker last week \u2013 led the post-match celebrations on the pitch afterwards, with several of the players joining supporters in a rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke about people having hero moments. It can be anyone in the team, whether it\u2019s me, a save, a block from the defenders, whoever it is. We have hero moments and for me it was today,\u201d said Kane. \u201cYou have to stay patient in these games. The last couple of games have been similar and obviously when you get to knockout football the pressure is higher, the risk is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

England players joined fans in a rendition of Oasis\u2019 Wonderwall after their victory. Photograph: Joosep Martinson\/Fifa\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

England must now prepare to take on a Mexico team that has never lost a World Cup match at the Estadio Azteca, which is situated more than 2,000m above sea level. Javier Aguirre\u2019s side defeated Ecuador<\/a> on Wednesday in their fourth successive victory of the World Cup so far and they have also not yet conceded a goal in the tournament. Tuchel admitted that the altitude would give Mexico a considerable advantage but was hopeful that England\u2019s pre-tournament hot weather training camp in Miami would pay dividends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is maybe one of the most beautiful and exciting fixtures that you can have against Mexico in the Azteca and there will be a lot of obstacles waiting for us,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cNot to mention the altitude will be of course a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it and in four days it\u2019s just impossible. More obstacles may come, but we are ready for that. Maybe we have the ideal platform now to genuinely believe that we are ready for that. When the going gets tough, we will find the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There had been a carnival atmosphere before the early kick-off despite temperatures in the city that hosted the 1996 Olympics exceeding 34C. One notable absence among the crowd was the DRC supporter Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, who is more widely known as \u201cLumumba Vea\u201d for dressing up as Patrice Lumumba \u2013 the former Congolese independence leader and prime minister who was assassinated in 1961. He usually stands still with his arm raised throughout DRC matches but was unable to attend this time after being denied a visa to the US.<\/p>\n

Those DRC supporters who did make it celebrated their goal with jubilation in the country\u2019s first-ever World Cup knockout match. But despite toiling for much of the game, it was England who kept their nerve and they were once again indebted to captain Kane, who has now scored 72 goals for club and country this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you give him a chance it\u2019s a goal,\u201d said the vice-captain, Declan Rice. \u201cIt\u2019s just ridiculous, so credit to him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Kane came to England\u2019s rescue as they avoided a seismic World Cup upset against the Democratic Republic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-738482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}