Thomas Tuchel likened Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland to “sharks who smell blood” after the England captain’s heroics against DR Congo.
England looked set to be on the end of a World Cup upset in the round of 32 after Brian Cipenga’s early goal gave DR Congo something to defend.
However, Kane scored twice in the final 15 minutes, turning the game on its head to clinch a 2-1 win for England that sets up a meeting with Mexico in the last 16.
The 32-year-old – on his 15th World Cup appearance – is the first England player to score a brace in a knockout stage match at the tournament since Gary Lineker against Cameroon in the 1990 quarter-finals.
He has also now scored 10 goals across his 11 major tournament (World Cup/Euros) knockout appearances since Euro 2020 – three more than any other European player in that period (Mbappe has seven).
Kane took his tally to five goals for the tournament, drawing level with second-place Haaland in the Golden Boot race, and one behind Mbappe and Messi.
When asked if there is a strength that links the quartet, Tuchel said: “They’re all sharks. If they smell blood, they come and score.
“These big guys in this World Cup, do they watch each other, and then they go like, ‘no, not with me’, and then I score, and then I do a hat-trick, and then you go, ‘what is going on?’ I mean, crazy.
“[Kane is] so, so good. He’s our captain, he’s our leader, and decides football matches with unbelievable finishes twice. The second one was just a brilliant goal, and happy that he’s [our player].”
England have won a World Cup match after conceding the opening goal for only the second time in their history, also doing so in the 1966 final against Germany (4-2).
It’s what he does. #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/6AuYf8Zhwv
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On the game itself, Tuchel told BBC Sport: “[More stressful] than we’d have liked, but if everyone gets what they like, we’d get an early goal, and another goal – that’s not how it is.
“You have to deal with the situation as it comes. It was difficult because they got a very early goal, but after the first hydration break, we had three, four, five big chances and maybe a penalty situation.
“We kept knocking. Their goalkeeper made unbelievable saves. The reaction and the belief was one of a kind; we found a way to win – well deserved.
“We want to make it easy, but if you come back from 1-0 down, and you need the last quarter of a match to bring it back, these are the experiences that give you genuine belief, so you don’t need a manager to tell you, because you felt it.
“Now they felt it, then they had the reward in front of our fans. They are well aware of what they did, what it took, and they’re a team that’s fully committed and full of belief.”
DR Congo’s defeat to England means eight of the 10 African teams to play in the World Cup knockout stages have lost their first such match (W2).
They had put in a strong display in Atlanta Stadium, though they failed to create too many chances, managing just seven shots, including one against the woodwork.
Head coach Sebastien Desabre remained positive following the full-time whistle and was thrilled with how his side competed at their first World Cup in 52 years.
“When you represent the national team, you have to leave a good image behind, and this, I believe, we did,” said Desabre.
“We are more proud than disappointed. We are disappointed to be leaving the World Cup, of course, but we scored five goals in the tournament, and played much higher-ranked teams and managed good results.
“We wanted to use the width of the field and needed space. We also wanted to close the centre better and cut the road to [Elliot] Anderson, who is important to the English build-up.
“We managed to corner England, but they reacted, and that is the capacity of these big teams. It took the best striker in the world to save them, and that’s what happens against these big nations.
“We did what we could; we were close to winning, but it can also be seen as a victory of sorts for us.”
