2026 World Cup: Kane Fires England Past Croatia in 4-2 Goal Fest

If Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé break records at the 2026 World Cup in North America, Harry Kane didn’t want to be left behind and, with a brace, led England to a 4-2 victory over Croatia on Wednesday in their Group L debut.

The Bayern Munich forward reached 10 World Cup goals, tying Gary Lineker as the all-time leading scorer for the Three Lions at soccer’s premier international tournament.

Kane converted a penalty in the 12th minute after a foul by Luka Modric and scored with a header in the 42nd minute, but the Balkan side fought back on both occasions with goals from Martin Baturina in the 36th minute and Petar Musa in the 45+5th minute.

Bellingham capitalized on a fantastic pass from Elliot Anderson in the 47th minute to regain the lead, and Marcus Rashford sealed the victory in the 85th minute.

In this match at the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, England showed tremendous firepower, and only the inspired play of Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic prevented the score from being even more lopsided in their favor.

However, the team coached by the German Thomas Tuchel also struggled to take control of the midfield and suffered greatly whenever their opponents entered the box.

Group L is rounded out by Ghana and Panama, who face off this Wednesday at 11:00 p.m. GMT.

A mistake by Modric opens the door

Even legends make mistakes: Modric, who at 40 is playing in his fifth World Cup—with the 2018 Russia final and the 2022 Qatar semifinals as his highlights—kicked Noni Madueke in the box while trying to clear the ball.

Penalty. Kane missed his first attempt, but the penalty was retaken because Livakovic had come off his line.

A player like him rarely misses twice, and the English captain succeeded on his second attempt.

Croatia, thanks to the mobility of its midfielders, responded.

Petar Susic left John Stones in his wake and played the ball back to Baturina, who equalized.

Kane stepped up again with a header off a corner kick taken by Declan Rice to restore England’s lead.

Kane, England’s all-time leading scorer with 80 goals, tied Lineker as the national team’s all-time leading scorer in World Cups with his 10th World Cup goal, one day after Messi and Mbappé shone with their own records.

Messi’s was the most notable. With a hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria in Group J, the Albiceleste’s No. 10 tied Germany’s Miroslav Klose with 16 goals as the all-time leading scorer in the World Cup.

A two-goal performance by Mbappé in France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal in Group I allowed the star of Real Madrid to become Les Bleus’ all-time leading scorer, with 58 goals, and the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer, with 14.

There was no time for much celebration, because Musa equalized again after capitalizing on a ball played into the box by Ivan Perisic.

Avalanche

After halftime, England went on a rampage.

As had been the case throughout the match, they continued to threaten with attacks down the right flank, and on a play down that side, Bellingham, assisted by Anderson, broke through and put England on the board.

Livakovic pulled off miracles in the face of an avalanche of shots, though Jordan Pickford also had his work cut out for him in goal at the other end.

Tuchel decided to freshen up the wings by bringing on Bukayo Saka and Rashford, and the two combined to seal the victory.

Rashford, on a pass from Saka, put the game away.

With information from AFP