England does not particularly care, really, how ‘it’ comes home. Harry Kane penalties or Harry Maguire headers work just fine.
On Saturday it was the latter — and a second goal by Dele Alli — that carried England past Sweden, 2-0, and into the World Cup semifinals.
The ‘it,’ of course, is the World Cup trophy, and it is now closer than it has been in a generation to coming back to England: home to soccer’s rules, to its best professional league, and to important parts of the game’s history.
For a week now, England fans worldwide have clung to a new slogan — “It’s coming home” — as a rallying cry for their desire to claim a second World Cup title, and the nation’s first since 1966.