A bit of a surprise for Portugal, held to a 1-1 draw against The Democratic Republic of the Congo - who are playing at their first World Cup in 52 years. Diogo Jota honoured in Portugal game. England, meanwhile, had plenty to celebrate - a double from Harry Kane, with Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford also on the scoresheet in a 4-2 win over Croatia. In one of the late dramas of the day, Caleb Yirenkyi fires home a stunning stoppage-time winner to give Ghana a 1-0 victory over Panama. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she gives you the biggest talking points from day seven of the World Cup. Will we see Ronaldo rise again in their next match against Uzbekistan? And will Harry Kane be able to win this World Cup golden boot? Or will it go to Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappé?
A bit of a surprise for Portugal, held to a 1-1 draw against The Democratic Republic of the Congo - who are playing at their first World Cup in 52 years.
A bit of a surprise for Portugal, held to a 1-1 draw against The Democratic Republic of the Congo - who are playing at their first World Cup in 52 years.
England, meanwhile, had plenty to celebrate. A double from Harry Kane, with Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford also on the scoresheet in a 4-2 win over Croatia.
And in one of the late dramas of the day, Caleb Yirenkyi fires home a stunning stoppage-time winner to give Ghana a 1-0 victory over Panama.
This is SBS News’ World Cup Daily: The 90+ Podcast, where we take you through the stories on and beyond the pitch. I’m your host, Haylena Krishnamoorthy.
Well some of us are probably still on a high from yesterday.
We saw 38 going 39 year-old Messi steal the show with his outstanding, historic hat trick for Argentina, and France's Mbappé producing one of the most memorable days in the World Cup history for Les Bleus with two goals, and of course Haaland - with an electric double as well for Norway's win against Iraq.
Now, let's take a deeper dive into what happened on the pitch today.
DR Congo celebrated their first World Cup goal after 52-long years, in style.
Although favourites like West Ham's defender (Aaron) Wan-Bissaka had missed opportunities on the pitch today..
Yoane Wissa equalised in first-half injury time.
"That's interesting. Wissa! The leopards pounce, the leopards roar, we have history in Houston. The first ever World Cup goal..for DR Congo."
And after the match, his teammate Joris Kayembe reflected on just how much that moment meant - especially for fans both in the stadium and back home.
He said it hasn’t been easy, particularly with the Ebola outbreak affecting the country.
"The supporters who were there behind the bench, the families, we know after 52 to be here after the World Cup and to draw against Portugal is a good start, and now we are thinking our country in the Congo it will be a good night today."
But it was Joao Neves who opened the scoring goal for Portugal.
"Great header and in, Joao Neves! The first Portuguese goal of another World Cup pursuit. Diogo Jota's parents looking on."
An emotional celebration not just for teammates, but also for fans.
Some Portugal players were wearing wrist bands - a gift from Prime Minister Luis Montenegro..
in honour of late teammate and Liverpool player Diogo Jota, who was killed with his brother in a car crash last year.
And for Cristiano Ronaldo, this tournament marks his sixth - and final - World Cup.
But in a performance which, for him, was a bit ineffective, he failed to score and he missed the few chances he had, late in the game.
Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez defended his performance.
"I think obviously in a game like today that we were finding it difficult to get into the box. Congo had a back five that at times it was even a back six. They accumulated a lot of players. I think you can use the qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo. It makes no sense to get the best goalscorer in world football out in a game that you need goals. I think what we needed is to add Goncalo Ramos without making it in a way that it would become even more a difficult line."
Meanwhile, England had a big night… and, as usual, Harry Kane was right at the centre of it.
The 32-year old Bayern Munich striker - playing at his third World Cup - scored two of England's winning goals.
England's opener against Croatia saw them win by 4-2 in Dallas - with Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham scoring the other two goals.
He's now on par with one of football's legends, and a personal icon to myself and many who follow the English Premier League [[EPL]] closely, Gary Lineker..
scoring ten goals for England at the World Cup.
"Yeah, obviously it's great milestone to reach, to get ten goals in a World Cup, obviously Gary himself had some amazing tournaments. To be on that number now is obviously really pleasing, to reach double figures in this amazing tournament is very special. It's the first game - I'm feeling good, I said before the game, physically, mentally, the goals that I scored this year is at the highest level I've ever had in my career. I feel like the peak of my power is at the right time, of course it's a long way to go, a lot of tough games ahead, but for me personally it's just - I enjoy being out there, I enjoy being on the pitch when I'm feeling in this form, so recover now and look forward to the next game."
The England captain - hoping to become the first player to win two Golden Boots - has had a record-breaking season in Germany.
Kane holds the European Golden Boot for 2025/26, beating Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.
Although, it’s worth noting - Manchester City striker Haaland did win the Premier League Golden Boot for the third time in four seasons.
And to break it down, I spoke to Alex Thomas, who’s a news and sports presenter for Sky News Australia and Fox Sports News.
He’s spent more than three decades in sports broadcasting, working with major organisations like the BBC, ITN, Sky UK, CNN and Al Jazeera.
And in a few weeks' time, he will be off to North America for the World Cup, where he will cover the semi-finals and the final.
It will be his fifth time in the last six World Cups that he’s been on the ground.
Here's what he told me.
"It's a huge result for England. Obviously, a great performance by Harry Kane as one of their senior players, and also someone that's just an out-and-out goalscorer. And England's big narrative is, of course, the country where football was born, and yet the one that most other nations want to see lose because of a perceived arrogance. The Three Lions culture, the fans, the it's coming home nonsense, and all of those things. And as everybody knows, including England fans, they've had decades of disappointment despite having very talented footballers because the game in England is so strong. 1966 still the one and only Men's World Cup title for England."
He says they have come a bit closer in recent tournaments.
"But famously their so-called golden generation of around 20 years ago, the generation that David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, and others, and Ashley Cole never brought home a major title. And the current England generation that maybe aren't quite as famous, certainly amongst older England fans, are trying to do something that hasn't been done since the 1960s."
And he had plenty of praise for Harry Kane - both on and off the field.
"Kane is a brilliant leader because he scores goals, because he's a good ambassador for the English game. He keeps his nose clean. He only gets in the newspapers for the right reasons, the headlines on the back pages, not the front. He's made the most of his career. You wouldn't necessarily look at him and say he's as talented as Lionel Messi, but he's made the most of his talent. He's learned. All his experience goes into the way he plays the game. He's deceptively fast, he's strong, he's good in the air, and can score goals from both feet. And he's proved that by testing himself and pushing himself and leaving the comfort of the English game and the Premier League with Tottenham, who are underachievers, and going to, you know, the Bundesliga giants that are Bayern Munich, and winning titles with them."
He says Kane is now delivering on the biggest stage of all - the World Cup.
I also asked him about Thomas Tuchel’s [[Too curl]] squad selections, including leaving out players like Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and whether it was similar to some of the calls made by Australia’s coach Tony Popovic.
"Every manager or coach at the World Cup is under a huge spotlight. But yes, you could point to Australia's Tony Popovic and England's German coach Thomas Tuchel as being two that are under particular scrutiny. Popovic, I guess, because he took a squad that was playing under Graham Arnold and did so well in Qatar 2022, and yes, rescued their qualifying campaign, but also has had to take some risks with his selection. And Nestory Irankunda was certainly the perfect example of that. And in the same way for England, Thomas Tuchel got a lot of criticism for the squad he picked for the World Cup."
He says if England had stumbled today, the pressure on Tuchel would’ve been huge.
But in the end, his decisions paid off - even if it wasn’t what many people saw coming.
Here’s Thomas Tuchel after the match:
"I think like we were too passive after we scored, we already straight away had a feeling like we have something to lose. Then we went backwards, which was absolutely not our character, they punished us twice, but I love the reaction that's good. It's always about the reaction. Mistakes happen, we play against good opponents so the reaction was excellent."
Alex Thomas says for a team like England - who so often struggle under the weight of expectation in opening games - this result really matters.
A 4–2 win over Croatia… and a bit of redemption too, after that 2018 semi-final loss against the same country.
And finally, Ghana’s Caleb Yirenkyi delivered one of the moments of the day - scoring a stoppage-time winner to beat Panama 1-0.
Antoine Semenyo picked up Man of the Match honours in that one.
And my SBS colleague who was on the ground sent these colourful scenes from Sydney's Ghana watch party in Paramatta.
What a vibe.
Uzbekistan against Colombia have just finished their match with a Colombia win: 3-1.
And you can catch the latest on that at SBS ON Demand.
And tomorrow, you can watch the latest on Czech Republic playing again, and this time against South Africa,..
Switzerland vs Bosnia(-Herzegovina), Canada and Qatar as well as, Mexico and South Korea.
I'll be back with you again on Saturday for the matches, including Australia's game against the USA.
Stay tuned for the latest at World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast.
For latest World Cup news, check out SBS News Headlines, wherever you get your podcasts.
