ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Hey Jude, you and Harry didn’t let England down.
Harry Kane scored twice to match the British record for world cup Goal and Jude Bellingham bring England forward It came about two minutes into the second half of Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Croatia.
In a rematch of the 2018 semi-final, won by Croatia, Martin Baturina and Petar Musa each responded to Kane’s first-half goal. Moussa’s goal came on the final play before the final whistle of the first half.
Even when the match resumed, the tie did not last long.
Bellingham received a long pass from Elliott Anderson and continued to evade defenders the rest of the way, evading Dominik Livakovic and firing a shot past the far post. Marcus Rashford extended the lead in the 85th minute.
“He just told us to take off the shackles,” Kane said of manager Thomas Tuchel’s half-time message after Croatia stopped the game late before the break. “The way we conceded that second goal, we’re not the team we want to be. He said at the end: ‘What’s the worst that can happen? We lost the game, the first group game, but we’ll get by.’ Move on. Just go and show the world what we can be.”
Kane won the Golden Boot award after scoring six goals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, taking his tally to 10 World Cup goals, equaling Gary Lineker’s record in 1986 and 1990.
The 32-year-old scored his first goal. Second chance for penalty kick Livakovic’s save on the first try was ruled out by a video review, which found that both of Kane’s feet went off the goal line when he hit the ball.
Kane went in the same direction towards the right post on his second attempt, while Livakovic lunged in the opposite direction, to his own right.
The penalty was called when Luka Modric, the 40-year-old midfielder who extended Croatia’s record by playing in his fifth World Cup, kicked Noni Madueke in the thigh.
Kane met Lineker’s mark as the Bayern Munich striker comfortably beat Livakovic with a powerful header from a Declan Rice corner. Kane has scored 81 goals for his country.
“We scored two goals with good actions and good situations, but it was too little,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said through an interpreter. “England was very difficult. (We) have to be strong defensively as well.”
After the Real Madrid player’s seventh international goal, Bellingham immediately had another great scoring opportunity. Livakovic made this save and about six more in just a few minutes amid England’s frenetic attack.
“We probably could have scored three goals in the last 20 minutes (after half-time),” Kane said. “At the end of the day, we had too much on our plate for a great team that will probably advance higher in the tournament.”
Musa scored his first World Cup goal as an active player from Dallas, which plays Major League Soccer’s home games about 40 miles from AT&T Stadium.
The retractable-roof venue, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, offers air-conditioned World Cup fans a respite from the oppressive Texas heat, but this time many of the white-clad English fans and Croatian supporters wore their country’s familiar red-and-white checkered uniforms rather than the blue kits worn by the players.
Musa chased down Ivan Perisic’s header and fired a one-timer past Jordan Pickford, but he was also brought down by Baturina in the 36th minute. The shot into the left corner missed Pickford’s hand.
Bukayo Saka’s pass left Rashford with plenty of space and the Barcelona player entered the penalty area, faked a shot with his left foot and scored his 19th international goal with his right foot.
“I loved everything in the second half,” Tuchel said. “I encouraged them to go for it, to be more courageous, to be brave, to play themselves. And like I said, I loved their response.”
In Group L, England face Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Tuesday, while Croatia play Panama in Toronto on the same day.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
