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In the seventh minute at Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday, Mbemba's long ball looped over a poorly positioned Djed Spence, Brian Cipenga jinked inside and slammed a low finish past Jordan Pickford at his near post. DR Congo, returning to the World Cup for the first time since playing as Zaire in 1974, were leading one of the favourites in their first ever knockout match. For 68 minutes they held it. Then Harry Kane equalised and then Kane scored again in the 86th minute and England survived what had threatened to become one of the great World Cup upsets.
The reality of what DR Congo produced across those 68 minutes deserves the full account. Yoane Wissa hit the post when two goals up would have been a genuinely decisive advantage. Lionel Mpasi-Nzau made five saves of genuine quality, including a remarkable early stop on a Bellingham header and a brave dive at Kane's feet just before half-time. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the West Ham defender who had been relegated with his club this season and was playing in his first-ever World Cup match, was named man of the match by several outlets. The Leopards pushed themselves and their resources to the absolute limit of what this squad could produce.
The margin was two Harry Kane goals. His 12th and 13th in World Cups, continuing an individual record that places him among the tournament's all-time great goalscorers. Kane got those goals because DR Congo, understandably, tired in the final quarter. England's introduction of Anthony Gordon in the 70th minute was the specific change that altered the dynamic: Gordon's cross for Kane's equaliser in the 75th minute, and his assist for the winner eleven minutes later, were the decisive contributions that ended a historic Congo run. Sebastien Desabre's side leave this tournament having scored their first World Cup goal against Portugal and led England for over an hour in a knockout match 52 years after their only previous appearance. The story of DR Congo's return deserves to be told long after this round of results fades.
Tonight: Algeria vs Switzerland in Vancouver
Three African nations remain in this tournament. Morocco face Canada in Houston on Saturday. Egypt face Australia in Dallas on Friday. Algeria face Switzerland tonight in Vancouver in the round of 32. Kickoff is at 23h00 South African time. A win sends them into the round of 16. Anything else ends their campaign.
Algeria's tournament has been a story of two very different matches. A 3-0 defeat to Argentina, in which they held 52% possession but could not find a way past the world champions' defensive structure, was followed by the first World Cup win in twelve years, a comeback victory over Jordan that validated Vladimir Petkovic's possession-based system when given the space to operate. Switzerland represent a sterner test than Jordan and a more forgiving one than Argentina. The question the Switzerland match will answer, as this publication noted before the Algeria-Jordan fixture, is whether Petkovic's system can convert possession into penetration against disciplined, organised European opposition that sits differently from Jordan's limited defensive block.
Switzerland qualified from a group that included Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and DR Congo, producing four wins across their six group matches. They are well-organised, difficult to break down through central areas, and carry genuine goal threat through their midfield runners. Amine Gouiri and Ramy Bensebaini, the two players Algeria have built their attack around across this campaign, face the same fundamental challenge against Switzerland that they faced against Argentina: converting Algeria's territorial dominance into moments that actually test the opposition goalkeeper. Tonight in Vancouver will be the final verdict on whether this Algeria squad has more to offer than the Jordan win suggested or less to offer than the Argentina defeat feared.
