Thomas Tuchel, the England manager, made a heartwarming and humorous appeal to parents after the Three Lions secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over DR Congo to advance to the FIFA World Cup pre-quarterfinals. Speaking in Atlanta, US, on July 2, 2026, Tuchel urged parents to let their children watch the crucial match and simply "write an excuse for school."
Tuchel's plea for young fans
During the post-match press conference, Tuchel was asked about children staying up late to watch the match and risking their sleep and school schedules. He responded, as quoted by a video from Sky Sports, "Write an excuse for school and let them watch football. Come on, there's so much school to go to, but the World Cup is every four years. Let them watch. There will be a big, big match on in four days and we need the support of everyone and especially of the children."
Harry Kane's late heroics
The match saw a late masterclass from captain Harry Kane, who scored goals in the 75th and 86th minutes to overturn DR Congo's early lead. Brian Cipenka had opened the scoring for DR Congo in the seventh minute, and the African side dominated large portions of the match before Kane's brace. With these two strikes, Kane now has 13 FIFA World Cup goals, surpassing Brazilian legend Pelé's tally of 12. He also moved past Geoff Hurst's four World Cup knockout goals for England, now standing at five, behind only Gary Lineker's six.
Kane reflects on the comeback
Kane expressed pride in the team's resilience after the match. "I'm proud of the group, proud of the boys," he said, according to ESPN. "We spoke before the game about how difficult this game would be. You are coming up against a good team who defend and watch really well. They were dangerous on the counter attack, as we saw in that first 20 minutes of the game. So we had to just grind a win out, and I thought we played some really good stuff after 25 minutes of the game."
He added, "Their keeper made some incredible saves, to be fair to him, and you start to think maybe it's just one of those days. But that's where I'm most proud of the boys and myself as well, just to keep the belief, keep getting the ball into the right areas, and you know one of us will have our hero moment, and thankfully for me it was today."
Next stop: Mexico
England will now travel to Mexico for their round of 16 clash at the iconic Azteca stadium against the host nation, scheduled for Monday. Tuchel's appeal for children's support underscores the significance of the upcoming match, as the Three Lions aim to continue their World Cup journey.
