England captain Harry Kane praised Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring twice to send England into the FIFA World Cup round of 16 with a 2-1 comeback win over DR Congo on Wednesday.
Kane said the standards set by Messi and Ronaldo showed how important recovery, training and preparation are for players who want to stay at the top for a long time.
“That’s why you do all the work behind the scenes. The things that you guys don’t see when we are in training, when we are at home doing recovery, doing ice baths, doing treatment all the little details that make you be consistently at the highest level for as long as possible,” Kane said.
“And you know, those guys, like Messi and Ronaldo, they’re at the pinnacle of that. So yeah, I’m fitting as well as I’ve ever felt, and ultimately, when I got onto the pitch, I know all the work I’ve done behind the scenes will make me ready for big moments. And that’s exactly what happened out there today,” he added.
England were stunned early when Brian Cipenga gave DR Congo a seventh-minute lead. The African side defended strongly and went into halftime ahead, with Thomas Tuchel’s team struggling to break them down despite having more possession.
Tuchel made changes after the hour mark, bringing on Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka before later introducing Eberechi Eze. Gordon made the biggest impact, setting up both of Kane’s goals.
Kane equalised in the 75th minute with a composed finish before scoring again in the 86th minute to complete England’s comeback.
The win sent England into the last 16, where they will face co-hosts Mexico.
Kane’s brace also lifted him further up the World Cup scoring list. He moved past Pele and level with Just Fontaine on 13 World Cup goals.
He also became the first English player to score five or more goals at two different World Cups and is now one goal behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race.
The result marked England’s first World Cup win after trailing at halftime. It was also only the second time England had come from behind to win a World Cup knockout match after the 1966 final against West Germany.
