Where all hope seemed lost, pure unimaginable bliss.

The three lines rescued.

Fans, like the players who were preparing to go home from the Auros, now celebrating the greatest of escapes against Slovakia. But this last 16 clash began so badly. When calmness and composure was needed, England were careless. Mark Gahee left on edge after an early booking and now suspended for the quarterfinals. With the defense so disjointed, this was coming. Ivan Shrantz giving Slovakia a deserved lead. They were as determined as England were deficient and dysfunctional and booed by their own fans. Phil Foden's joy was short-lived, VAR ruling out his equalizer. Harry Kane, usually so certain to score, was nowhere near. Time was running out. Something special was needed. How about this? A stunning overhead kick from Jude Bellingham. A reprieve in the fifth minute of injury time. These fans had already left their seats and missed it.

Have England scored? They've scored.

An equalizer.

Jude Bellingham.

Oh, God.

Could England now seize the momentum? The answer came in the first minute of extra time. Cain was reawakened. The captain's header turning the game around. Gareth Southgate side holding on for a two on win and ensuring he will have 100th game in charge.

We want to be better. I'm not going to hide from that. But the spirit and the character was there for everybody to see, and we're still in there fighting.

Now five days to recover from the drama with the dream of the trophy still alive.

You're 30 seconds from going home, having to listen to all the rubbish, feeling like you've let a nation of people down, and in 30 seconds or in one kick of the ball, everything can change. It's a feeling that I don't like to be in, but when it's done, it feels great.

This was a game bringing back memories of Iceland in 2016, but somehow they avoided another Euro's embarrassment. Now they can look forward to a quarter final with Switzerland. It's not about the performance, they got the result needed.

But how often can England play so poorly and escape with a victory?

England looked God awful. Southgate, I think they should take him after this game. We can't play that bad for another 90 minutes, surely. We've got through to the quarter final. That's why we're going to win it. We're not going to play good football, but we're just going to have bits of excellence.

Rob Harris, Sky News, Gelsian Kershian.