Kane double leads England to 4-2 win over Croatia in World Cup opener

England began their FIFA World Cup campaign with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Group L, powered by a brace from captain Harry Kane and second-half goals from Jude Bellingham and substitute Marcus Rashford. The win marked the third consecutive tournament in which England have won their opening fixture.

First-half drama

The match started with a twice-taken penalty. Winger Noni Madueke, one of England's World Cup newcomers, drew a foul from Luka Modric in the box. Kane stepped up but saw his initial spot-kick saved by Dominik Livakovic. However, referee Clement Turpin ordered a retake after replays showed Livakovic had stepped off his line and defender Josko Gvardiol encroached. Kane shot into the same corner and this time found the net.

Croatia responded swiftly. Petar Sucic laid the ball back to Martin Baturina, who curled a shot into the right-hand corner via the palm of Jordan Pickford to make it 1-1. Kane restored England's lead with a header from Declan Rice's corner, equalling Gary Lineker's England record of 10 World Cup goals. But Croatia equalised again on the stroke of half-time, with Petar Musa volleying home after Ivan Perisic nodded on Mario Pasalic's ball over the back line.

Second-half dominance

England emerged with renewed intensity after the break. Jude Bellingham, given the No.10 role ahead of Morgan Rogers, drove in from the right wing and finished low across Livakovic to make it 3-2. The goal sparked a dominant spell, with England forcing a string of saves from Livakovic. The pressure finally told in the 85th minute when substitute Bukayo Saka set up Marcus Rashford, who composedly slotted home to seal the win.

Kane's penalty was his fifth in World Cup history (excluding shootouts), the most by any player. He also became England's joint-top scorer in World Cup finals with 10 goals, matching Lineker's record.

Reaction

England coach Thomas Tuchel praised his team's second-half response. "Good reaction, the first half was a bit complicated for us. It was a bit nervy. The decisions we took, we chose to go safe and go backwards. We struggled to find any rhythm and didn't have the confidence to go through the gaps," he told ITV. "I saw a statistic of 33% of ground duels won in the first half and 73% in the second, so even off the ball was not good enough, not committed enough. I loved the reaction of the players in the second half."

Kane echoed his coach's sentiments. "Credit to the manager, the manager gave us a speech at half-time as if to say, 'Look, if we lose, we lose in our way' and you saw that with how we came out in the second half. We went full gas and they couldn't deal with it and that's the level we have to set for every game," he said. "Just the intensity we went at, that's our biggest strength so we're going to have to use that more in this tournament."

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic was critical of his side's second-half performance. "We played a very bad second half. In the first half, we conceded two goals from two set pieces, the first after a penalty. We didn't do some things well. We conceded the third goal after a long ball and saw how difficult it was to come back into the game. We reacted poorly to the deep ball and rotated poorly," he told HRT.