{"id":2071,"date":"2026-07-02T09:17:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2026-07-02T09:17:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:17:45","slug":"kane-rescues-england-balogun-drama-as-u-s-also-reach-last-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/kane-rescues-england-balogun-drama-as-u-s-also-reach-last-16\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Kane rescues England, Balogun drama as U.S. also reach last 16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

England and the United States both reached the World Cup round of 16 on a night of late drama, with Harry Kane\u2019s double saving England and Folarin Balogun scoring and being sent off in the U.S. win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England came from behind to beat DR Congo 2-1 in Atlanta after a slow and shaky start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Cipenga gave DR Congo an early lead in the seventh minute. England struggled to settle and looked vulnerable in defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Tuchel\u2019s side lacked control in the first half. Jude Bellingham forced a save from Lionel Mpasi. Marcus Rashford had an effort cleared off the line. Kane was repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DR Congo remained dangerous on the counterattack. Yoane Wissa hit the post before halftime. England went into the break trailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuchel turned to his bench after the restart. Anthony Gordon\u2019s introduction changed the tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England equalised in the 75th minute. Gordon delivered from the left. Kane rose to head home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winner came late. Kane collected the ball outside the box in the 86th minute, shifted past defenders and drilled a low finish into the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DR Congo pushed England hard throughout with a disciplined and energetic display but could not hold on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England will face Mexico in Mexico City in the round of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Santa Clara, the United States also advanced with a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, though the match featured both breakthrough and setback for Balogun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s side controlled much of the game with energy and creativity against a defensive Bosnia team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balogun opened the scoring by reacting quickest to steer Malik Tillman\u2019s deflected pass past goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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His night then turned after the hour mark when he was sent off for a challenge on Tarik Muharemovic, with his studs catching the defender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States briefly lost momentum but regained control. Tillman sealed the win with a curling free-kick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian Pulisic also had a goal ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States will face Belgium in Seattle in the round of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England and the United States both reached the World Cup round of 16 on a night of late drama, with Harry Kane\u2019s double saving England […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2074,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071\/revisions\/2074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}