England

Gareth Southgate's men had all but beaten Colombia, only to throw it away and then conjure up a second victory on a long, draining night in Moscow.

If that wasn't remarkable enough, the fact they did on a penalty shoot-out is bordering on the downright bizarre.

Italia '90, France '98 and Germany in 2006 had all ended in recriminations and tears. But Russia 2018 had a happier ending.

In truth, it was no more than England deserved.

Having been fouled by Carlos Sanchez, Kane - after a lengthy delay caused by Colombia's protests to referee Mark Geiger - duly kept his cool to break the deadlock from 12 yards.

It brought up the Tottenham star's sixth goal of the tournament, and also saw England's captain equal Tommy Lawton's 79-year-old record.

Kane's strike also sees the 24-year-old match Lionel Messi's total record of World Cup goals, on his debut at the tournament.

With Brazil potentially awaiting in the quarter-finals for the group winners, there was speculation both teams would prefer to finish second to be paired with either Sweden or Switzerland in the last eight.

But despite Belgium making nine changes from their previous group match and England eight, both sides showed plenty of willingness to try and win the game and the group.

Gareth Southgate's side had squeezed past Tunisia in their opening Group G game thanks to a stoppage-time winner from their skipper, but there was no late drama in a one-sided clash in Nizhny Novgorod.

Kane and John Stones both scored twice in the first half, the former converting a pair of penalties as England netted five before the break against their beleaguered opponents.

Vunipola's tour came to an end on Monday after it was confirmed he had re-fractured his arm during the second match in Bloemfontein.

The number eight has returned to London and will be assessed next week to establish what action needs to be taken to fix the problem.

Vunipola's brother Mako has also flown home after England fell 2-0 down in the three-match series, but it is Billy that Vermeulen believes will be the biggest loss.

England's talisman and captain put them ahead in the 11th minute of Monday's clash in Volgograd, but Tunisia levelled in contentious fashion.

Referee Wilmar Roldan pointed to the spot when Kyle Walker caught Fakhreddine Ben Youssef with his arm and Ferjani Sassi levelled with an unconvincing penalty.

England wasted numerous opportunities prior to that leveller but will have been unimpressed by Roldan's performance thereafter, the Colombian ignoring multiple penalty appeals from the Three Lions.

Former Wallabies coach Jones's side raced to a 12-0 lead in Bloemfontein on Saturday before the Springboks got into the game and over-ran them 23-12 to secure the series.

It's the second week in a row England have let a lead slip, with South Africa coming back to win 42-39 in Johannesburg.

The defeat on Saturday was the sixth overall on the trot for England, who also lost to the Barbarians before they left for South Africa.

Southgate has taken a relatively inexperienced group of players to Russia compared to previous tournaments, with Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere among the big names left out.

England face Tunisia in their opening game on Monday, with Panama and star-studded Belgium their other opponents in Group G.

But Mourinho, whose Manchester United players Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Marcus Rashford are all in the squad, feels England have the talent to go all the way.

The hosts fielded a mixture of regular internationals and young players but the inexperienced line-up was no match for the power of the Barbarians, who ran in nine tries in an entertaining game full of running rugby.

Winger Chris Ashton, who has 39 caps for England, grabbed a hat-trick of tries for the Barbarians inside 25 minutes as they crossed the line five times in the first half.

Former All Black Victor Vito also scored two tries.

Kane will lead the Three Lions as they look to make amends for their humiliating last-16 defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.

And despite England having not won the tournament since 1966, the Tottenham striker is feeling bullish about their chances of going all the way this time around.

"It's impossible not to dream about lifting the World Cup, it's the biggest competition in the world," he told a news conference. "For me, it's going to be a massive dream to play in it. It's impossible not to think about that.