England's forward Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the 2026 World Cup Group L football match against Croatia at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on Thursday (as per BST) — AFP ARLINGTON, Texas, June 18 (Agencies): Harry Kane struck twice while Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford delivered the knockout blows as England survived a back-and-forth battle to beat Croatia 4-2 on Wednesday and launch their World Cup campaign in a heavyweight clash that lived up to its billing.
Kane wrote his name in England's football history books with a first-half, bringing his FIFA World Cup goal tally to 10.
The Bayern Munich marksman has now matched Gary Lineker's record for most goals scored by an England player at the World Cup, which has stood since 1990.
He will have at least two more chances to overtake his compatriot for the standalone accolade in the Group L games against Ghana and Panama.
Kane's first goal against Croatia came from the penalty spot at the second attempt, after goalkeeper Dominik Livakovi? was penalised for coming off his line before the penalty was taken. He made no mistake with the retaken penalty, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to open the scoring for England.
After Croatia's Martin Baturina levelled the scoring on 36 minutes, Kane restored England's lead just before half-time, meeting Declan Rice's corner with a perfectly placed header into the bottom corner that saw him match Lineker's England goalscoring record.
It wasn't the only record matched by the 32-year-old in the match against Croatia. He also drew level with David Beckham as the only Englishmen to score at three different FIFA World Cup tournaments.
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