Thomas Tuchel has described Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland as "sharks" after their goalscoring feats at the 2026 World Cup.
Kane's brace in England's 2-1 win over Congo DR took him to five for the tournament, level with Haaland and one behind top scorers Messi and Mbappé.
Messi is the current all-time World Cup top scorer with 19 -- one ahead of Mbappé -- while Kane surpassed Pelé to move to 13.
Asked if the quartet shared a common strength, Tuchel said: "They're all sharks. If they smell blood, they come and score.
"These big guys in this World Cup, do they watch each other, and then they go like 'no, not with me' and then I score, and then I do a hat trick, and then you go 'what is going on?' I mean, crazy.
"[Kane is] so, so good. He's our captain, he's our leader, and decides football matches with unbelievable finishes today twice. The second one was just a brilliant goal, and happy that he's [our player]."
Kane's goals were reward for England's perseverance after falling behind to Brian Cipenga's early strike. They finished with 16 shots -- seven on target -- but were made to wait until the 75th minute for Kane's equaliser, before his 86th-minute rocket fired England into the round of 16.
England's players have often been labelled as inhibited by the weight of expectation as they aim to win a first World Cup in 60 years, but pushed on whether he saw something different from his team today, Tuchel said: "100%. I did not see any of that today and it would be so easy to see it. It would be so easy to give in and accept that narrative and that is a very, very good sign."
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England came from a goal down to win a World Cup match for the first time since beating West Germany to lift the trophy 60 years ago and Tuchel added: "That's a good sign. Thanks for telling me.
"It just shows you the level of determination, belief and focus. It fits into my narrative that I didn't feel the weight on their shoulders.
"I found we played with exactly the right attitude. We trusted our spirit. We brought the right energy and spirit to the stadium. And the dressing room. That is the big takeaway from today."
