India, July 2 -- England had never won a World Cup match when trailing at half-time, losing seven and drawing two of their previous nine such games. At half-time of their Round of 32 game, DR Congo were ahead and putting their bodies on the line to keep things that way. Some wondered whether this streak would continue.

Yet, if there is one thing their skipper Harry Kane seems to have an unending supply of, it is belief. So even when others might let their shoulders drop or start thinking of the what-ifs, all Kane, in an unfussy way that is very much his own, focuses on the process.

"That's why you do all the work from behind the scenes, you know, the things that you guys don't see when we're training, when we're at home doing recovery, ...