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| England 4-2 Croatia Stats: Kane Brace Helps Inspire Impressive World Cup Start |
The Opta match centre now reflects the final score, with Harry Kane scoring twice, Jude Bellingham adding a third after the restart, and Marcus Rashford finishing the job late on.
The match began in dramatic fashion when England won a penalty inside the opening 10 minutes.
Kane’s first effort was saved by Dominik Livaković, but the kick was ordered to be retaken after encroachment from Josko Gvardiol and the goalkeeper stepping off his line, and the England captain made no mistake from the second attempt.
Croatia refused to buckle. Martin Baturina levelled before halftime, only for Kane to restore England’s lead with a powerful header from a Declan Rice corner.
Croatia then answered again in first-half stoppage time through Petar Musa, who finished from an Ivan Perisic knockdown to leave the game finely poised at 2-2.
England came out after the break with far more control and purpose.
Bellingham struck just 85 seconds into the second half, driving onto Elliot Anderson’s pass and finishing off the post, before Rashford wrapped up the victory in the 85th minute after combining with Bukayo Saka.
The numbers told the story of England’s recovery.
They finished with 22 shots and 2.8 expected goals, compared with Croatia’s 10 attempts and 0.71 xG, underlining how strongly Thomas Tuchel’s side finished the contest after surviving the first-half pressure.
Kane’s double also took him to 10 World Cup goals for England, equalling Gary Lineker’s national record, while the result gave England their first World Cup win against a top-15 FIFA-ranked opponent since 2002.
For England, it was the kind of opening result that can shape a tournament: shaky at times, but ultimately clinical, resilient and packed with key moments from their biggest names.
