England arrived at the World Cup and it looked like they belonged there. It looked like they wanted to be there. It looked like they should be there. And when was the last time that anyone said that?
Harry Kane might never want to come home again after his two-goal start against Tunisia.
He will be there for a while yet, because surely the 2-1 win in Volgograd will turn the key towards securing a place in the last 16.
A tricky scenario was taking shape as the north Africans made the hot, midge-infested second-half a slog, having been handed a penalty equaliser in the first-half following Kane’s 11th-minute opening goal.
The group would have become nervy if it had remained 1-1, as looked likely for so long. Another point for Tunisia against Belgium in the next round of matches – with Panama then their remaining opponents – could have left England requiring something big from the third match against the impressive Belgians.
Kane’s injury-time winner changed all that. In terms of instant headlines, it delivered the nation’s most upbeat start to a tournament since the 3-1 defeat of France at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.