Thomas Tuchel’s mission to put a second World Cup star on the England shirt did not look as though it would reach the second knockout round. On a fraught and chaotic occasion in Atlanta, his team flirted aggressively with disaster. For 75 minutes, England mixed loose defending with an inability to take their chances. Which were plentiful. The Democratic Republic of the Congo goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi, had the game of his life. Who needs Lionel Messi.

It was easy for England’s long-suffering fans to feel their minds being taken to dark places. Iceland 2016, anyone? They had only ever lost once to an African team – to Senegal in a friendly in June of last year. The DRC, who have brought the romance to this tournament, a team to unite a war-torn nation, led through Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute goal. They were primed to do something utterly extraordinary.

At which point Harry Kane decided that enough was enough. The England captain was not ready to go home, to be buried under an avalanche of awful headlines. He kept the faith. If he could get another chance, he told himself he would take it.

We can all agree the Geopolitics World Cup has gone on far too long, so Football Daily is pleased to announce it is over. It monopolises everyone’s time, changes sleeping, eating and drinking patterns, leaving everyone tired and poorer. No one wants to stay up for further 2am BST kick-offs or attempt to watch a couple of games a day. Frankly, the process has been completely futile since the first ball was kicked. France have won the tournament; no one can compete with their arousing front four who are, frankly, better than anything else on the planet.

This is the first game of day 21 at the World Cup, with USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow. Ach, who am I kidding.

Belgium had just beaten New Zealand 5-1 to secure top spot in Group G and, at least in theory, an easier last-32 draw, but Rudi Garcia was evidently irked. In response to the first question in a curt post-match press conference, he adjusted the microphone to ensure his point was heard.

“I really didn’t appreciate them being called has-beens,” he said, alluding to an article in La Libre, a French-language Belgian newspaper, that compared Kevin De Bruyne to a washed-up Hollywood actor after a flat display against Iran in their previous match in Los Angeles.

“When a nation has players of that calibre, you support them,” Garcia added, praising the performances of his “four leaders” in De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Leandro Trossard, who scored twice against New Zealand; Trossard’s opener represented the first goal Belgium scored themselves at the tournament (after an own goal against Egypt) at the 45th attempt after more than 200 minutes of labouring.