The clips flooded Dan Burn’s phone. A viral sensation for the second time in a week, thundering through a former Brighton team-mate as the seconds ticked down in Miami, with England holding firm amid a Norwegian assault.
Burn’s header flies out of play. He punches the air with both arms, stepping over his opponent as if retreating from a ruck. It typifies the grit instilled in this team by Thomas Tuchel and speaks to a squad that has embraced modern football while also maintaining English traditions.
‘I used to play with Leo (Ostigard), the guy who I end up clattering with the header,’ Burn says.
‘I didn’t really know what I’d done in the moment. I watched back and I thought, “Oh, it’s not great,” so I texted Leo after and just said, “Mate, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, I was just like fired up,” and he was like, “Yeah, I get that, it’s no problem.”
‘When that ball’s in the air, my eyes lit up a little bit and I just wanted to go for it and do my part for the team.’
He has done that and more, wearing the Raul Jimenez bicycle kick on the nose in the humidity of the Azteca and heading another clearance 50 yards. Big Dan Burn has become an icon for plenty – and many taking a passing interest in the sport for the first time.
Dan Burn has become England’s viral sensation of the 2026 World Cup in North America
Tuchel was clear with Burn what his role would be here. Closing games out. He readily accepted the opportunity. It is one that at 34 he now relishes but admits would have been harder to swallow in his earlier years.
‘It’s a tough one,’ Burn adds while looking ahead to Wednesday’s semi-final with Argentina, expected to be a physical tussle. ‘Because really, you kind of do not want to have to come on at all and we’ll win the World Cup.
‘It’s a hard one, mentally, because the best-case scenario for the team is that I’m not needed at all, but that also means that I don’t get on the pitch.
‘It’s one of those where, if the game’s tight at the end (against Norway), I’m warming up pretty much the entire second half, knowing that I was going to have to come on and do something — I just want to come on and do what I’m good at.’
Burn believes the identity of English football has been blended nicely and contributes to more success. And he recognises where he sits within that.
‘I think it has probably changed over the last like 20 odd years. We’re producing more what European football teams have been doing, like Spain and France.
‘I feel like it used to be very different, but now the players that we’re bringing through are at the same level as those countries.
Burn has played a key role in closing out England’s last two wins over Mexcio and Norway
‘Using Spain as an example, they’re a lot more of a possession-based team because of the players that they have. Whereas we’re probably a lot better at the counter-attack with the speed that we’ve got and the players that we’ve got going forward.
‘Everyone’s got their own style, but I think it has probably changed over the years since we’re consistently making semi-finals.
‘At Darlington, I can’t say I ever dreamt of being in a World Cup semi-final, because it was so far off the radar. I felt like once I played in the Premier League, I’ll be content. Or once I’ve played in the Champions League, I’ll be content. Or once I’ve won a cup at Newcastle.
‘You realise that you always want more. The amount of times I’ve thought about winning a cup at Newcastle and actually it was a bit of an anti-climax when you got there. You’re just always wanted to get there.
‘Now, dreaming of winning the World Cup, it’s all of these bits leading up to it that will be the bits that you remember, not the actual (thing).’
So these days are to be cherished, the build-up, the brotherhood that Burn speaks so passionately about. The anticipation of what is to come.
But Burn is left hoping he won’t be needed alongside Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane against Argentina
England are aware of the historical magnitude of this date with Argentina in Atlanta. It has become something of a diplomatic hot potato in the days before kick off.
Burn fell for football while watching the famous group stage victory in 2002, the David Beckham redemption, in the Cricketers’ Arms when on holiday in Orlando as a 10-year-old. The Irish bar next to Universal is no longer with us, replaced by a whiskey joint.
‘It must have been on quite late because I think it was just me and my dad,’ Burn says. ‘I think that was the sort of time when I fell in love with football.’
Beckham visited camp last week to receive his legacy cap from current skipper Harry Kane. ‘I was bit starstruck, to be honest,’ he admits. ‘I rarely get starstruck now. I feel like when I meet people, I’m normally pretty cool. But I was like, ‘f*** me, that’s David Beckham’.’
Someone might be saying the same thing about Burn one of these days. Especially if he doesn’t get on across the next two games.
