Harry Kane fittingly took centre stage on his big night, scoring the winning goal as England overcame Croatia to qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals.
The England captain scored a second half penalty, restoring the lead after Morgan Rogers’ opener had originally been cancelled out by Petar Sucic. The win came on a momentous occasion for Bayern Munich man Kane, as he celebrated his 126th England cap to become the outright leading appearance-maker.
A swish presentation was made beforehand, with Prince William and ex-goalkeeper Peter Shilton – whose record Kane broke – on hand to mark the occasion. And perhaps that contributed to a low-key opening, with chances very much at a premium.
Once they did find their swagger, the hosts threatened Croatia’s goal a few times before the opener eventually arrived. And it was Kane who began the move, playing a lovely, cross-field pass out to Jude Bellingham on the wing. The Real Madrid man then played in a centre first time to pick out Rogers and although his contact was far from clean, it was enough to see the ball trickle into the goal.
England came out for the second half seeking a second goal, with Anthony Gordon seeing a shot from just inside the box creep past the Croatian right-hand post. Declan Rice then laid it off to Kane for what many thought would be a tap-in only for the skipper to fluff his lines, before Gordon again dragged a shot wide of goal.
Croatia made England pay for their near-misses when they unexpectedly drew level just before the hour. And the hosts played a big part in it.
From a Croatia corner, Jarrell Quansah inexplicably attempted to head the ball back to his goalkeeper Jordan Pickford but there was nowhere near enough purchase on it, allowing Sucic to ghost in and volley home from a couple of yards out.
Quansah redeemed himself not long after, as he won England a penalty after it was deemed he was fouled in the box at a corner. After a long VAR check, Kane confidently stepped up to convert the spot-kick for goal number 92 of his international career.
The visitors never looked like coming back a second time and England thought their margin of victory had increased further when sub James Garner scored a third only for it to be quickly scrubbed off owing to Bellingham being in an offside position.
Nevertheless, England held on to set up a mouth-watering finale away in Spain on Sunday with the winner taking top spot in the group.
Manager Tuchel reflected post-match: “We wanted this win desperately and I think we deserved it. I think it was hard work against a good opponent. It took us a while to grow into the game but after 15 minutes I think we did OK, got the goal and got better and more confident and had some good actions and good chances, good half-chances.
“We got a little bit sloppy at the very end of the first half, started the second half very good, didn’t score the second goal, conceded from a set piece, and then showed a good reaction.
“We got the job done and it was important because it was a special occasion for Harry [Kane] and he scored the winner, so perfect evening.”
