Kane: Bellingham goal one of England’s best ever

England captain Harry Kane hailed Jude Bellingham‘s added-time overhead kick against Slovakia as one of the best goals in the country’s history as they fought back to win 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

Bellingham’s 95th-minute goal rescued a dire England, who trailed Slovakia for the majority of the round-of-16 tie, and forced the game into extra time.

Kane scored the winner for England in the 91st minute, and Gareth Southgate’s side held on to set up a quarterfinal clash against Switzerland on Saturday.

“That’s the desire and attitude from the boys and everyone involved. It looked tough for a second there, but you keep going,” Kane said in a postmatch interview.

“We worked on so many details around the week. We worked on a long throw a couple days ago and said we might need it. We had to be ready for everything. That’s what Jude does. It was an unbelievable goal. One of the best in our country’s history I reckon.

“What a player he is. He works so hard for the team. There has been a lot of talk about him the last couple of days, and it shows what he can do. In big moments he steps up, and that’s what we needed.

“We know we will do whatever it takes. If we have a game like this in the quarterfinal, then so be it. We had to dig deep, and that’s exactly what we did today. We could have done better, could have played better. But ultimately it’s a results business, and that’s what we care about. So we can enjoy tonight and hopefully take that momentum into the rest of the tournament.”

Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Southgate said he was still expecting the equalizing goal even as time was running out.

“I had a funny feeling the game wasn’t dead and I know that sounds ridiculous. We were pushing and probing,” Southgate said. “Ultimately it is the one we have thrown in the box that got us the goal.”

Bellingham’s goal was England’s first shot on target in the match.

It didn’t have to wait long for its second as Kane headed home to score his seventh goal in his last seven knockout games at major tournaments. It was also a record-extending 65th for his country.

England — ranked fifth in the world — haven’t won a major tournament since their only triumph at the World Cup in 1966.

“We haven’t come to get to a quarterfinal, but to get through a night like tonight was fantastic character and we now play a Swiss team that have been very good,” Southgate said. “We have a couple of days to recover and get ready for them.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.