The World Cup continues to produce the unexpected. On a throbbingly hot afternoon in the low flat plains outside Dallas the Netherlands and Japan played out a high-grade, ultimately thrilling Group F game, Daichi Kamada scoring an 89th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2 just as the Dutch looked like taking an early hold on one of the tougher groups.

Sport does love to spring surprises. As the entire bib-clad Japanese bench emptied on to the pitch to celebrate Kamada’s deflected goal, as the Japan fans writhed and roared and fell over themselves in the stands, it was tempting to wonder if perhaps the unthinkable is happening.