Record-breaker Harry Kane scored from the spot to seal England’s place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Croatia, capping a memorable Wembley night as the captain became his country’s most-capped player.
There was an inevitability about Kane hitting the net on his 126th cap. There had been pre-match tributes and accolades as the Ballon d’Or holder passed the mark of legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton and once again Kane was England’s match winner with his second-half spot-kick. That’s 92 goals now in England colours for the record scorer.
The win means England will now have the chance to win Nations League Group A3 and be seeded for the quarter-finals – but they will have to be far better than this if they are to beat table-toppers and world champions Spain in Madrid on Sunday.
England thumped Croatia 7-0 last month but this was a performance far shy of that previous display, lacking intensity and final-third spark for long periods, and littered with jittery moments at the back.
Thankfully for Thomas Tuchel, he has Kane. The captain orchestrated the opener in his trademark style, dropping deep before clipping a fine pass for Jude Bellingham to cross for Morgan Rogers to bundle in.
England’s Morgan Rogers scores a goal against Croatia
But moments after Kane’s Bayern Munich team-mate Josip Stansic made a key block on the England skipper, Jarell Quansah’s blunder gave Croatia a gift. His header back to Jordan Pickford was too casual and pounced on by Petar Sucic.
Quansah almost immediately made amends, being hauled down from an England corner by Ivan Smolcic for Kane to have his big moment.
But still England couldn’t go up through the gears. James Garner’s celebrations were cut short by an offside flag but the final stages were nervy for the hosts, with Nikola Vlasic wastefully clipping wide and Ante Budimir headed over.
On Kane’s historic night, England were again indebted to their captain fantastic.
As it happened at Wembley…
15: CLOSE! Anderson goes close to his first England goal with a decent snapshot from 20 yards.
18: BLOCK! A Bellingham cross is cleared as far as Alexander-Arnold, who strikes it well but into the body of Misic.
24: GOAL! Kane’s fine pass into the box finds Bellingham to volley a cross for Rogers to bundle in.
48: WIDE! Gordon takes aim but doesn’t get the bend on his shot he’d like and it flies well wide.
51: BIG BLOCK! Kane is denied a goal when his Bayern Munich team-mate Stanisic gets in the way as the England captain tries to turn in Rice’s cutback.
55: PENALTY APPEALS! But there’s deemed to be no foul when Gordon is bundled over by Misic before Bellingham hits the target with a follow-up shot.
59: GOAL! Quansah tries to head the ball back to Pickford from a Croatia corner but Petar Sucic is there to pounce and poke in. A bad mistake from the England centre-back!
63: PENALTY TO ENGLAND! After a VAR check Morten Krogh awards England a penalty for Quansah being pulled down from an England corner by Smolcic.
64: GOAL! Record-breaker Kane scores from the spot for England goal number 92.
82: BIG CHANCE! But Vlasic clips his shot wide when he looked set to equalise.
86: NO GOAL! James Garner is denied his first England goal by the offside flag.
88: BLOCK! Quansah slides in to block Budimir’s shot.
90+2: CHANCE! But Budimir heads over from a late corner.
Analysis: An historic night for Kane – but forgettable performance from England
Sky Sports News’ Rob Dorsett at Wembley Stadium:
“As a game, it was instantly forgettable. As an occasion, it will live long in the memory. But that is all about what happened pre-match, rather than during the 90 minutes.
“Captain Kane being recognised as not only the best player in the world, but also as England’s most capped player of all time, was a proper “I was there” moment. Inevitably, he scored to mark the occasion, with a coolly-slotted second-half penalty.
“But beyond that, England were disappointing. Flat. Lifeless, in the main. Lacking energy, spark and invention. The two full-backs, Alexander-Arnold and Hall, came out of it with some credit. And Elliot Anderson was as industrious and effective as ever. But that was about it.
“It was enough to ensure a victory – just about – and to set up a winner-takes-all Nations League group finale against the world champions Spain in Madrid on Sunday. Maybe England’s players had that game in the back of their minds, and held back a bit. Let’s hope that’s what it was, anyway.”
What’s coming up for England?
- Spain vs England – Sunday, November 15