A night built around one man
Peter Shilton’s 125 caps stood as the England record for more than three decades. Tonight at Wembley it became Harry Kane’s alone, and the captain marked his 126th appearance in the only way that felt right: he scored the winner.
The ceremony came first. Before kick-off Prince William handed Kane the Ballon d’Or he collected in London on October 26, the first by an Englishman in 25 years, while a giant tifo of the striker filled one stand. Shilton then presented him with a shirt bearing the number 126. Kane had drawn level with the goalkeeper on October 6, scoring twice in a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic.
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Rogers, a gift, then the spot
England led after 24 minutes, and Kane was in the middle of it. His lofted pass found Jude Bellingham on the right, the ball was squared across the box, Josko Gvardiol only half cleared it and Morgan Rogers bundled it in past Dominik Livakovic’s hand.
Croatia’s equaliser on 59 minutes was self-inflicted. From a corner Jarell Quansah tried to head the ball back to Jordan Pickford, got almost nothing on it, and Petar Sucic stuck out a leg to turn it home. Five minutes later Quansah was fouled in the area, and Kane rolled the penalty straight down the middle. That was goal number 92 for his country, extending a record he already held.
Nervy to the end
It wasn’t comfortable. England had a late goal ruled out for offside, Quansah partly made amends with a block on Ante Budimir, and the Croatia substitute headed just over in stoppage time. The result keeps England on course for the quarter-finals before Sunday’s trip to Spain. For Kane, the form backs the ceremony: across his last 25 internationals before tonight he had scored 23 times, his best return over any 25-game stretch.
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