Harry Kane became England’s most-capped men’s player at Wembley on Thursday and celebrated his 126th cap with the penalty winner in a 2-1 Nations League win over Croatia.
The 33-year-old struck his spot-kick down the middle in the 64th minute. It was his 92nd goal for his country, and it booked England’s place in the last eight with a game to spare, Sky Sports reported.
England’s quarter-final place was confirmed ahead of Sunday’s group game against Spain.
A night of presentations
The occasion was marked before kick-off. The National reported that Kane walked out with his four children in front of a crowd of about 80,400. He showed off the Ballon d’Or he won last month, and the Prince of Wales gave him a shirt with “126” on the back.
Peter Shilton, whose 125 caps had stood as the record, handed Kane a commemorative token. Croatia captain Luka Modric, a former Tottenham team-mate of Kane, presented him with a replica of the first football brought to Croatia, in 1880. England fans unfurled a tifo in his honour.
How the game went
Morgan Rogers put England ahead in the 24th minute. Kane was heavily involved in the build-up, according to beIN Sports.
England did not add a second. Croatia equalised through Petar Sucic in the 59th minute after a mistake by Jarell Quansah, who BBC Sport said was “entirely comfortable” until that point.
Quansah made up for it four minutes later. Referee Morten Krogh awarded a penalty after a VAR check for a shirt pull by Croatia’s Ivan Smolcic from a corner. Kane stepped up and scored.
England then had to hold on. Nikola Vlasic sent a left-footed effort narrowly wide late on.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel was pleased with the result but not the whole performance. Speaking to ITV, he told Goal it was “a good win”. He said England had become sloppy at the end of the first half and should have scored a second goal before conceding from a set piece.
Kane kept his own comments on the result. Afterwards he said the match was “all about picking up the three points”, according to Yahoo Sports.
Kane’s place in England history
The numbers put Kane well clear of every England player before him. His 92 goals are 39 more than Wayne Rooney’s 53, the next-best total, according to The National. Sky Sports noted he passed Rooney in March 2023 to become the record scorer. He is now eight goals short of a century.
Shilton held the appearance record from 1989, when he passed Bobby Moore’s 108 caps. Kane has now gone past him as well.
The landmark comes less than three weeks after Kane became the first English winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years, as Sky Sports pointed out. The National also noted that England beat Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka last month, so Kane has now faced them twice in a matter of weeks.
England’s other results were more modest. On BBC Sport’s player ratings, Kane scored a six like most of his team-mates, while left-back Lewis Hall’s seven was the highest mark of the night.
Kane and England face Spain on Sunday 15 November.
Sources: Sky Sports, The National, beIN Sports, Goal, Yahoo Sports, BBC Sport
This story was compiled by the MDW Newsdesk with AI-assisted tools, using the reporting credited above.
