England 4-2 Croatia: Kane Brace Sinks Six-Goal Epic

How did England turn a 2-2 thriller into a 4-2 win?

England started fast and got their reward early: a 12th-minute penalty, calmly tucked into the bottom-right corner by Harry Kane for 1-0. For a while it looked routine. Then Martin Baturina changed the tone on 36 minutes, taking a Petar Sucic pass and curling a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top-left corner — the kind of strike that announces Croatia still have midfielders who can hurt you.

England's response was immediate. Three minutes later Declan Rice swung in a corner and Kane rose to head it into the bottom-left corner, 2-1 and a brace for the captain. But Croatia would not lie down. In the fifth minute of first-half stoppage time, Ivan Perisic nodded the ball down and Petar Musa swept it in from the centre of the goal to make it 2-2 — and there was no one better placed to score it than the FC Dallas striker, back on Texas turf a short drive from where he plays his club football.

Whatever was said at the break, England came out sharper. Within two minutes Bellingham had restored the lead, and from there the chances kept coming until Rashford put the result beyond doubt.

Did Harry Kane answer the doubters with a brace?

For all the talk before the tournament about whether England could win without leaning on their captain, Kane simply got on with it. The penalty was taken with the certainty of a player who has done it a hundred times; the header was a centre-forward's goal, attacking the near post off Rice's corner and beating the goalkeeper before he could set. Two goals, two different routes to the net, and a reminder that the path to England goals still runs through him.

It was the sort of return England's squad-builders were banking on when they finalised the group — a process we broke down in our look at the England World Cup 2026 squad. With the supporting cast around him scoring too, Kane's brace was less a rescue act than a statement that the focal point is in form.

Was Bellingham's strike the turning point?

It was. Croatia had walked off at half-time level and with momentum; two minutes later it was gone. Elliot Anderson slipped the ball to Jude Bellingham on the right side of the box and the midfielder finished low into the bottom-left corner, 3-2 on 47 minutes. The goal did two things at once — it punished Croatia for conceding so soon after their equaliser, and it reasserted that England had the deeper, fresher legs.

From there the game settled into England territory. Croatia's veterans, Luka Modric among them, had given everything to claw level twice, and the energy England carried into the second half — exactly the profile our Croatia tactical preview warned might stretch an older side — began to tell. Rashford's 85th-minute finish, set up by a Bukayo Saka pass, was the logical end to a half England dominated.

What does the win mean for Group L?

Three points and top of the group is about as good as it gets on opening day. England lead Group L on goal difference after Ghana's 1-0 win over Panama earlier the same day. That said, the coaching staff will not have loved everything about it — conceding twice in a single half, and letting Baturina and Musa find the net as cleanly as they did, is the kind of thing that gets picked apart on the training ground.

For Croatia, the danger signs are real. They scored twice against one of the group favourites and still lost, undone by a soft spell either side of half-time and by England's superior strength in depth. With Ghana and Panama to come, Modric's side cannot afford another slow finish. England, meanwhile, have what they came for: three points, a Kane brace, and a forward line that looks ready to score against anyone.