The England vs Congo DR match was the first time England have won a FIFA World Cup match after conceding first since the 1966 Final against West Germany at Wembley.

More importantly, it was the first time England have won a World Cup match after trailing since the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when the English defeated Cameroon 3-2 in Extra Time (After falling behind 2-1) in a Quarter Final in Naples – David Platt scored in the 1st Half, Cameroon scored twice in 5 minutes after the hour mark (Emmanuel Kundé scored a penalty and Eugène Ekéké put Cameroon ahead), then Gary Lineker won a penalty with 8 minutes to play and scored to set up extra time, then midway through won another penalty and converted what was the winning goal, sending England through to their first World Cup Semi Final since 1966.

The coincidence being that the 1990 QF and the 2026 Round of 32 match occurred exactly 36 years apart – July 1, 1990 and July 1, 2026, and both times you have England playing an African nation in their first appearance in the knockout stages of a World Cup, and both times an Englishman scored twice after Half Time to win the match.

The stranger part about that statistic – in that 60-year span, England have won 6 matches at the European Championships in which they’ve conceded first:

Croatia at Euro 2004 (Trailed 0-1, won 4-2)

Sweden at Euro 2012 (Trailed 0-1 and 1-2, Won 3-2)

Wales at Euro 2016 (Trailed 0-1, won 2-1)

Denmark in the Euro 2020 Semi Final (Trailed 0-1, won 2-1 in Extra Time)

Slovenia in the Euro 2024 Round of 16 (Trailed 0-1, won 2-1 in Extra Time)

The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 Semi Final (Trailed 0-1, won 2-1)

There’s also the Quarter Final against Switzerland at Euro 2024, which England won on penalties after conceding first.

And now the English go to play Mexico at the Azteca, 40 years after Diego Maradona’s fabled performance against the Three Lions in the very same stadium.