New Delhi, July 2 -- ATLANTA - Pele scored his twelfth World Cup goal in 1970, during a tournament most historians treat as the ceiling of the sport, the high-water mark of what one man could produce across four competitions and twelve years. Twelve goals, one record, undisturbed for 56 years. Harry Kane matched it in the 75th minute at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday night. Then he broke it eleven minutes later, when England needed him most.

The 86th-minute winner, Kane's second of the night in a 2-1 comeback over DR Congo, was his 13th career World Cup goal, surpassing Pele's tally to join Just Fontaine among the tournament's all-time elite scorers. Kane did it trailing by a goal, in front of 68,239 people who had spent most of the ni...