Kane Saves 'Home of Football' with Multi-Goal Performance, Chasing Golden Boot

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England, the home of football, secured a thrilling comeback victory against the Democratic Republic of the Congo thanks to a multi-goal performance by Harry Kane. With this, Kane has closed the gap in the race for the Golden Boot, trailing closely behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

England, aiming to reclaim the World Cup title for the first time in 60 years, faced unexpected difficulties from the start.

Just seven minutes into the first half, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Chipega scored the opening goal with a clean right-footed shot.

England launched a counterattack, led by Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, but were repeatedly frustrated by the opposing goalkeeper's spectacular saves.

The deadlock continued until the 75th minute, when England's star striker Harry Kane began his one-man show.

Substitute Anthony Gordon delivered a cross into the center of the box, and Kane, having cleverly evaded his markers with exquisite movement, found the back of the net with a header.

Having leveled the score, Kane shone once again in the 86th minute.

Receiving another pass from Gordon, he instantly dribbled past three defenders and fired a powerful right-footed shot into the bottom right corner, leaving the goalkeeper helpless and sending English fans into a frenzy.

Thanks to Kane's two goals in 11 minutes, England secured a 2-1 comeback win and continues its quest for a title after 60 years.

[Harry Kane / England National Football Team Striker: We had to keep pushing for the win until the very end. I believed one of us would be the hero, and thankfully, it was me today.]

With his fifth goal of the tournament, Kane has narrowed the gap with Messi and Mbappé to just one goal, heating up the race for the Golden Boot.

[Thomas Tuchel / England National Football Team Manager: Our leader Kane has incredible finishing ability. He scored two goals today, and the second one was absolutely fantastic.]

England will face the host nation, Mexico, on July 6 in Mexico City—located at an altitude of 2,200 meters—to compete for a spot in the quarterfinals. Mexico was the team that handed us a painful defeat during the group stage.

(Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin, Design: Choi Jin-hoe)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.