Harry Kane’s career has been defined by his late-stage urgency. Going to Bayern in search of a trophy, the first season was barren. What followed was a gradual upsurge which turned into titles and the overwhelming admiration of the public of Munich, who were fascinated by the tireless work of the English.
Kane at Bayern has been a revelation – dropping deep into midfield, being an elite ball distributor, maintaining an intelligent press. And it hasn’t come at the cost of goals (almost a game). He was already England’s greatest striker before this move, but he has become a complete version of himself.
That The finished product came against Croatia on Thursday. The striker, in England’s first World Cup match, and perhaps his last, produced a superb performance against a seasoned, experienced opponent.
Ten minutes in, Noni Maduke was brought down carelessly by Luka Modric in Croatia’s box. Kane, whose last major performance for England at the World Cup was a penalty miss against France, went through that nightmare again when Dominik Livakovic dived to his right and denied the goal. But after an English protest, VAR declared that the keeper had stepped off his line early and the penalty must be retaken. Kane went again and this time sent Livakovic the wrong way to open England’s account.
Croatia return with goals from the English playbook – specifically the European Championship final in 2024. In that final, Cole Palmer scored off a Jude Bellingham pullback, and on Tuesday Petar Susic’s cutback was powerfully deflected by Martin Baturina.
Kane’s response: Deploy John Stones in front of him during a corner as a blocker and guide the header into goal. With England struggling for control in the half, Kane’s unflinching performance regained the lead against a smart opponent.
But that control did not stay with England, they got their head back. In virtually the last move of the half, Mario Pasalic unleashed a lob over Perisic in Jordan Pickford territory. The winger, who has tormented England so well over the past decade, dragged four men with him and sold a dummy head back into the path of Petar Musa who took a chance with both hands.
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The half ended with England losing the lead twice but in decisive fashion. After a few moments they were banished.
When Tuchel took charge of England for an 18-month project due to end on the final day of the World Cup, the consensus was that time was too short. A manager whose caution has only been shown by Pep Guardiola, a few international camps ahead of the World Cup will certainly not wash away Gareth Southgate’s influence in this team.
Tuchel wants England to think fast, pass fast. To live life internationally, as athletes live domestically. It is a marked departure from their period of best results at international level since winning the World Cup in 1966.
Southgate’s measured, restrained England teams played tournament football pragmatically. Nowhere near the talent of their golden generation, he played in finals at the 2020 and 2024 European Championships and led England to the quarter-finals in Qatar and the semi-finals in Russia 2018. Tuchel plans to change that course and set the ship on its own course.
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In the second half, a wider, faster England came out of the gates. Bellingham quickly restored the lead as the half began – taking a pass from Reece James on the right wing and going full to the finish.
Kane was followed in a methodical midfield press by a midfield trio of Premier League winner Declan Rice, Manchester City target Elliott Anderson and Real Madrid Champions League winner Bellingham. They finally had the control they wanted. The fourth goal came towards the end from Marcus Rashford, who came on as a substitute.
Kane had time for a near goal line block at the end of the 4-2 victory. A majestic performance by a world-class player in a true English climate.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means – they didn’t concede a single goal in qualifying but scored twice in the World Cup group stage for the first time in their history. Victory against a depleted Croatian side was never going to be a walk in the park but England secured a victory that gives them control of their group and a calm for a turbulent World Cup entry.