Harry Kane is 'just ridiculous' - Declan Rice says England lucky to have 'proper leader' after vital double in intense DR Congo showdown

Speaking to BBC Sport after the final whistle, Rice did not hold back in his admiration for the man who wears the armband. England were staring down the barrel of a shock exit before their talismanic striker produced a late double to turn the game on its head, first heading home Anthony Gordon's close-range cross, before smashing in an unstoppable winner from the edge of the box after Gordon recycled Jude Bellingham's saved effort.

"He's just ridiculous. 72 goals this season I think, that's just not normal. Ridiculous numbers," Rice said. "He is a proper leader, a captain, trains everyday and gets on with everyone in the group. When you have someone who can win a game for you like that... That second goal, he just reverse whips it into the top corner, and it was ridiculous to see. What a player. We're very lucky to have him."

With his decisive brace against DR Congo, Kane took his tournament tally to five goals, putting him joint-second in the Golden Boot race alongside Erling Haaland, just behind leaders Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. Kane's late heroics not only kept England's World Cup dreams alive but also officially set up a highly anticipated round-of-16 clash against Mexico.

According to Opta, the England captain's goals further cemented his legendary status on the international stage. Kane has now become one of only two players in football history to score 20 or more goals across the World Cup and European Championship, joining Cristiano Ronaldo (24). Furthermore, his unmatched clutch performances are highlighted by his knockout stage record; since Euro 2020, Kane has scored 10 knockout goals at major tournaments - well ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who is on seven, and over triple the amount of Dani Olmo, Kasper Dolberg, and Gonçalo Ramos, sitting on three each.

England fell behind in just the seventh minute when Brian Cipenga found space in the box to beat Jordan Pickford at his near post, struggling early on to find their rhythm against an inspired African side. Despite the pressure mounting, Rice insisted the team remained confident they could find a breakthrough. Ultimately, they did, marking only the second time in history (and the first since the 1966 final against Germany) that England have won a World Cup match after conceding the opening goal.

"To be honest with you I'm just trying to re-gather my thoughts and settle myself down. It was a really tough game, really high intensity and high demand. To win in the end I am obviously buzzing. Even when we went 1-0 down I was still really calm. There have been shocks already at this tournament but when they were 1-0 up I still thought we had a enough on the pitch. The chances we were creating, they blocked a few off the line, I thought we had a penalty but it was not given, so we just had to keep going. Keep making runs and keep chipping balls to the back post and exploiting the spaces, and the end if you keep doing it then something is going to come. Harry again stepped up and scored two."

One of the more surprising tactical tweaks during the frantic closing stages was seeing Rice finish the match in an unfamiliar defensive role. While he is used to patrolling the midfield, he was forced to step in at right-back to help combat the pace of the DR Congo attack as England looked to see out the result.

"It was probably the hardest 12 minutes of the game having a stint at right back. In games like that it was probably too much of a basketball match at times, back and forth, and we had to take the sting out of it because they have fast wingers. I think we made more hard work of it than we needed to. I have played there two or three times this season, I know the role, it is probably not my biggest strength but to do anything for the team and the manager. 12 minutes left I said I would do my best and I think I did well there. Let's see what happens next game but hopefully I don't have to be at right back."