Day 23: Kane rescues England, Belgium steal it, ten-man USA

Coverage note: this snapshot closes the completed Wednesday, July 1 Round of 32 slate. ESPN’s live schedule listed Spain-Austria, Portugal-Croatia and Switzerland-Algeria as the next Thursday fixtures, so they are not treated here as final results. 1

England escaped the scare of the day: DR Congo led through Brian Cipenga in the 7th minute, before Harry Kane scored in the 75th and 86th minutes to turn it into a 2-1 England win and a Round of 16 tie with Mexico. 2

Belgium produced the wildest swing: Senegal led 2-0 through Habib Diarra and Ismaïla Sarr, then Romelu Lukaku scored in the 86th minute, Youri Tielemans equalised in the 89th, and Tielemans converted a 120+5' penalty for a 3-2 win after extra time. 3

The United States beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 even after Folarin Balogun’s 64th-minute red card: Balogun scored in the 45th minute, Malik Tillman sealed it with an 82nd-minute free kick, and the U.S. advanced to face Belgium. 4

The numbers gave the night its shape: Kane moved to 13 career World Cup goals, one more than Pelé; Tielemans’ winner came at 124:44, described by ESPN as the latest goal in World Cup history. 5 3

Verified X pulse: Michael Oti Adjei highlighted Kane passing Pelé’s World Cup goal total; WION framed Tielemans’ 125th-minute penalty as the latest World Cup goal; American Footballin’ argued the U.S. win showed grit after going down to 10 men; George Michael Perez captured the fan-side fury around Balogun’s red card. 6 7 8 9