UEFA Nations League,
League A – 5
England
ENG
Croatia
CRO
-
place
- Wembley Stadium
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referee
- Morten Krogh
Morgan Rogers 24′
Harry Kane 64′ (pen)
Petar Sučić 59′
Harry Kane it marked his record number 126 England appearance with the winning goal as Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Nations League.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring midway through the first half before Petar Sucic capitalized on a Jarell Quansah error to equalize just before the hour mark.
However, Kane restored England’s lead from the penalty spot just five minutes later, scoring his 92nd international goal to ensure the Three Lions made it four straight wins in Group A3.
The result marks a meeting with world champions Spain on Sunday in Madrid, with top spot in the group still to be decided.
Rogers puts England ahead on Kane’s historic night
The evening began with an introduction to Kane, who overtook Peter Shilton to become England’s most capped player.
The former goalkeeper, Croatia midfielder Luka Modric and Prince William were among those who took part in recognizing the captain’s achievement ahead of the kick-off.
Croatia started more confidently, enjoying possession in England’s half and forcing Jordan Pickford to do some early defensive work.
Elliot Anderson registered England’s first try in the 16th minute, striking from distance but unable to keep his effort out.
Trent Alexander-Arnold went close after Jude Bellingham’s cross was partially cleared, although Josip Misic produced an important block.
England’s pressure finally paid off in the 24th minute when Rogers broke the deadlock.
Kane started the play with an excellent diagonal pass into the penalty area, picking out Bellingham at the far post.
The Real Madrid midfielder helped the ball return to the six-yard box, where Josko Gvardiol was unable to deflect.
Rogers reacted quicker, sending a right-footed volley down the floor that curled past Dominik Livakovic and into the net.
The hosts continued to threaten, with Dan Burn causing problems from set pieces and Anthony Gordon providing an attacking outlet down the left.
Bellingham almost created another chance when he traded passes with Rogers on the counterattack, but Josip Stanisic recovered to block his pass.
Croatia responded through Mateo Kovacic, whose effort was comfortably collected by Pickford.
England
Croatia
Kane’s penalty settles the contest after Quansah’s error
England started the second half strongly and almost doubled their lead in the 51st minute.
Declan Rice made an excellent run into the penalty area before squaring the ball to Kane who looked certain to score.
However, Stanisic produced a brilliant late block to deny the England captain from close range.
Gordon called for a penalty after going down under a Misic tackle, but the referee allowed play to continue.
The winger subsequently fired wide as England continued to search for a second goal.
However, Croatia equalized in the 59th minute.
A corner caused problems inside the England penalty area, with Quansah trying to head the loose ball towards Pickford.
The defender failed to notice that Sucic was coming in behind him, allowing the Croatian midfielder to stick the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
It was the first goal conceded by England since their defeat against Spain on the opening day of the League of Nations campaign.
Tuchel’s team responded immediately and were awarded a penalty just four minutes later.
Quansah took a corner and was dragged to the ground by Ivan Smolcic, prompting a VAR review.
After examining the incident on the pitch monitor, referee Morten Krogh pointed to the spot and booked the Croatian defender.
Kane stepped forward in the 64th minute and calmly slotted his penalty into the center of the goal as Livakovic dived to his left.
The strike restored England’s lead and took Kane to 92 international goals, leveling him with Robert Lewandowski on the all-time international goalscoring list.
The UEFA Nations League table
League A – Group C
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position 1, 2: Play Offs: Quarter-finals
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position 3: Possible play-off
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position 4: Possible relegation
Croatia continued to search for an equalizer and almost found one in the 82nd minute.
Modric pushed forward before releasing Nikola Vlasic, who took the ball away from Burn and curled an effort wide of the post.
England thought they had added a third four minutes later when Garner finished from close range after Bellingham’s pass.
However, the midfielder’s celebrations were cut short when the assistant referee raised the flag for offside against Bellingham.
Croatia threatened again in the closing stages but Quansah produced an important sliding challenge to deny Budimir before Burn snuffed out the danger from the resulting corner.
Luka Vuskovic headed home in injury time as the visitors made a last-ditch effort to salvage a point.
Next matches of England and Croatia
