Historic late night could be Kane’s chance to delight once more

Cricket fans are accustomed to bleary-eyed sessions in front of the television following England down under and now football supporters will discover what it’s like to watch a big match in the small hours.

The 1am start for England’s World Cup match against Mexico on Sunday night/Monday morning is the latest at night UK time that England will have kicked off a match since June 1991, when they played two friendlies away to New Zealand that both began at 3.30am. Neither were broadcast live on British television or radio, so no test of stamina was required. All of England’s games since then have begun at 7am or later UK time. 

Thomas Tuchel’s side will approach the round-of-16 fixture buoyed by their landmark comeback victory over DR Congo in the first knockout round on Wednesday. It was England’s first match in their history, dating back to 1872, where they have won despite trailing for as long as 68 minutes (this discounts stoppage time, which is not recorded comprehensively, and which anyway is only making up for time lost previously).

There are only four previous instances of England facing a deficit for more than an hour before achieving victory, and each time they won 2-1: for 61 minutes when beating Argentina in 1951; for 62 minutes when defeating Scotland in 1957; for 65 minutes in the win over Japan in 2010 and for 65 minutes when beating Slovakia at Euro 2024, although they required extra time on that last occasion. 

Simply falling behind against DR Congo was a novel experience. Aside from co-hosts Mexico, who received an automatic invitation to the tournament, England were the last of the 209 entrants to this World Cup to have trailed during their campaign, including qualifiers.

Harry Kane, naturally, inspired the recovery, scoring twice in 11 minutes to give his team a 2-1 win. Nat Lofthouse, Tom Finney and Alan Shearer are England’s joint-seventh leading scorers on 30 goals, but if you took away 30 from Kane’s tally, he would still be England’s all-time top scorer. His 84 goals put him 31 ahead of Wayne Rooney.

Kane’s figures when leading the team are arguably even more impressive. Before 2018, the England captain with the most wins in group games or knockout ties at World Cups or European Championships was Bobby Moore, with a mere eight. Kane, whose first tournament with the armband was the 2018 World Cup, now has 19 such wins. As for knockout-tie victories, Kane’s total of 10 is as many as all other England captains put together have achieved.

In a remarkable turnaround, England have advanced further than Germany for the fifth consecutive major tournament, the same five in which Kane has been captain. The Germans, in contrast, had outlasted England in 23 of the previous 24 World Cups or European Championships, back to the 1970 World Cup. The exception was Euro 2004, where England reached the quarter-finals and Germany exited at the group stage.

England’s failure to win a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup has made that tournament a reference point, and their results this summer have not discouraged comparisons. Not only was the win over DR Congo their first World Cup victory after conceding the opening goal since the 1966 final, but they had actually lost on all 13 such occasions, 11 in normal play and two after a penalty shootout.

Furthermore, all of their four scorelines so far in North America – wins by 4-2, 2-0 and 2-1, and a 0-0 draw – also occurred during their six-game run to the trophy in 1966. The next match is surely worth staying up for then.

Photograph by Erik S. Lesser/AP