England Survive, Belgium Stun Senegal, and More World Cup Drama

Geoffrey Ashworth

You know, there- there are afternoons in football that... well, they strip away all the modern gloss and they leave you with... with nothing but raw, unadulterated human drama. And yesterday... goodness me, yesterday was exactly that. Let- let's start in Georgia. This episode of the World Cup Daily is brought to you by Jellypod, your AI-powered companion for daily news, delivered with the accuracy of a Harry Kane penalty. And my word, did England need that trademark precision. They were... they were on the absolute precipice, staring down the barrel of a humiliating exit against the DR Congo in Atlanta, at that grand old cathedral... the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Just... seven minutes on the clock, and Cipenga fires the Congolese into the lead. And for the next hour, it was... it was excruciating. Lionel Mpasi in the Congo goal was... he was a man possessed, making save after fantastic save. I was- I was pacing the room, my old tartan Wednesday scarf wrapped so tight around my neck I could barely breathe. It had the... the awful, heavy feeling of those old, muddy 1970s cup upsets... you know, when a Sheffield Wednesday would go away to some non-league ground on a freezing January afternoon and get completely bogged down in the mire. It was- it was grim. But then, seventy-fifth minute, a cross comes in, and Harry Kane... thump! A bullet header. One-one. And then, eighty-sixth minute, the ball breaks to him on the edge of the area and... bang! A right-footed rocket of a penalty-box finish. Pure, hard-nosed grit. It reminded me of... of old Tommy Craig, just putting his head down and dragging the team through the mud by sheer force of will. England won two-one, and they survive... somehow. They've booked a date with destiny against Mexico in the Round of 16 this Sunday at the Azteca. But... oh, my word, the drama in Atlanta was practically a library reading compared to what we saw in Seattle.

Geoffrey Ashworth

If you'd told me... if you had told me at sixty minutes that Belgium would be in the next round, I- I would have told you to go and lie down in a dark room. Senegal were... they were absolutely brilliant. Diarra after twenty-five minutes, then Pape Matar Sarr in the fifty-first... two-nil down. Belgium looked... old, ponderous, completely out of ideas. And then Domenico Tedesco... well, he makes what can only be described as a... a monumental, career-defining gamble. He drags off Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku. Two-nil down in a World Cup knockout match, and you take off your two most creative players. I- I- I couldn't believe my eyes. But... somehow, the madness worked. Romelu Lukaku... he bully-boys his way through to pull one back in the eighty-sixth minute. Then, eighty-ninth minute... Youri Tielemans... a thumping header to make it two-two! It goes to extra time. And then... the absolute peak of the drama. One hundred and twenty-fifth minute. Lamine Camara... it's a- a really clumsy, desperate challenge on Tielemans in the box. The referee doesn't give it initially, but... VAR calls him over. The tension in that grand old cathedral, Lumen Field... you could have heard a pin drop on the turf. Penalty awarded. Tielemans steps up... cool as you like, slots it home. Three-two to Belgium. Absolutely extraordinary.

Geoffrey Ashworth

But... there is no rest for the wicked, because as we speak, the drama is starting all over again down in Santa Clara. The United States... they are just kicking off against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi's Stadium... another... well, another grand old cathedral of the modern game. And the big news there... Christian Pulisic is back in the starting XI. He's recovered from that calf injury, and he's starting alongside Folarin Balogun and Malik Tillman. That is a... a very bold, very attacking lineup. The US needs a performance here, they really do. And looking ahead to tomorrow... my word, we are absolutely spoiled. Three blockbuster fixtures on the slate. We start at three PM Eastern at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood... yet another grand old cathedral... where Spain face a very tricky, very disciplined Austria side. Then at seven PM, we head up to Toronto... BMO Field... for Portugal against Croatia. Luka Modric against Cristiano Ronaldo... perhaps one last time on the grandest stage of them all. And then to wrap things up, eleven PM Eastern at BC Place in Vancouver, it's Switzerland against Algeria. It's... it's relentless, it's exhausting, and it is... beautiful. Enjoy the matches, everyone. I'll be back tomorrow to dissect it all... hopefully with my voice still intact.