Harry Kane scored the winning goal on his special night as England survived a scare to beat Croatia in their penultimate Nations League match. The world's best player earned his 126th international cap, surpassing Peter Shilton as his country's record appearance-maker. He also showed off the Ballon d'Or before kick-off at Wembley and had a big hand in creating the opening goal in the first half.
Kane Creates Opener and Scores Winner
As he so often does, Kane dropped deep to receive the ball and played a brilliant lobbed pass to Jude Bellingham, who was positioned nicely in the box. The midfielder squared it to Morgan Rogers, who bundled over the line to give the Three Lions an early lead. It came after a bright start from Croatia, who were thrashed 7-0 in last month's reverse fixture but looked determined to give a better account of themselves on this occasion.
England eventually gained control of the match, with neither team really getting out of second gear until Croatia levelled against the run of play through Petar Sucic, who poked home from point-blank range after Jarell Quansah headed straight into his path.
Quansah Wins Penalty
Just moments later, the defender won a penalty for England when he was hauled down inside the box. It allowed Kane to step forward and mark his record-breaking appearance with the winning goal, sparking huge cheers from the Wembley crowd.
Croatia upped the tempo in the closing minutes in search of another equaliser, but they couldn't break through as the hosts held on to claim a deserved victory. The result means England will finish top of their Nations League group if they beat reigning world champions Spain away from home on Sunday night.
Player Ratings
Jordan Pickford - 6: Needlessly flapped at an early chance for Croatia, but quickly found his bearings. Made the sort of saves you'd expect him to make and wasn't to blame for the equaliser.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7: Took a little while to get going, giving the ball away cheaply in the opening exchanges. Eventually settled into the game and looked good in attack, firing in some delightful crosses.
Jarell Quansah - 5: Fell asleep at the back for Croatia's equaliser, gifting them an opportunity to score with a misguided header back towards Pickford. Won the penalty for England just moments later and produced a crucial block in the closing minutes.
Dan Burn - 7: As expected, posed a threat at set-pieces with his imposing aerial presence. Impressive at the back, too. A good display from the big man on his return to the England side.
Lewis Hall - 7: Looked lively on the left flank, linking up well with his team-mates and even getting a couple of shots away. At the back, positioned himself to stop Croatia getting crosses into the box.
Elliot Anderson - 7: Flashed an early effort narrowly over the crossbar, which was his only real chance of note. Did well in midfield, helping England to control large parts of the game. Dribbled past three Croatia players in one moment of brilliant skill.
Declan Rice - 6: Kept things ticking in the engine room, making simple passes in possession and working hard to track back and win the ball when needed.
Jude Bellingham - 6: Got the assist for the opener with a squared ball across the penalty area. Had a relatively quiet game by his standards but still did enough to influence the result.
Morgan Rogers - 7: Stabbed the ball home from close range to open the scoring for England. Made a nuisance of himself in the final third and wasn't afraid to track back, either.
Anthony Gordon - 7: Wasn't quite at his brilliant best, but worked hard both in and out of possession, relentlessly hunting the ball when Croatia were passing it around at the back.
Harry Kane - 8: He was always going to score on his special night. Made no mistake from the penalty spot, firing down the middle to score the winner. Had a hand in creating the opener, too, with a perfectly-weighted ball into the corner of the box.
Substitutes
Rio Ngumoha - 6: Looked lively when he came on for the final 15 minutes as part of a triple change for England.
Ben White - 6: Was tasked with stopping Croatia from getting another equaliser and did his job well enough.
James Garner - 6: Had a late goal correctly ruled out for offside. Helped to dictate the tempo in the middle of the pitch in the closing minutes.
