By SCHUYLER DIXONThursday June 18, 2026
England got the response it needed, and Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham made sure of it.
Kane scored twice to move level with the English World Cup scoring record, while Bellingham put England ahead for good just two minutes into the second half of a 4-2 win over Croatia on Wednesday.
Martin Baturina and Petar Musa had kept Croatia in touch by replying to each of Kane’s first-half goals in a rematch of the 2018 semifinal that Croatia won. Musa’s strike came on the final play before halftime.
The deadlock did not survive the restart for long.
Bellingham latched onto a long pass from Elliot Anderson, held off the defender all the way in and beat Dominik Livakovic with a shot that went in off the far post. Marcus Rashford added insurance in the 85th minute.
“He just told us to let the shackles off,” Kane said after coach Thomas Tuchel’s halftime message, delivered after Croatia had managed to level the match so late in the first half. “The way we conceded that second goal is not the team we want to be. He finally just said, ‘What’s the worst that can happen? We lose the match, first group game, we get on with it.’ We move on. Just go and kind of show the world who we can be.”
Kane, who claimed the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia with six goals, now has 10 World Cup goals, matching Gary Lineker’s total from the 1986 and 1990 tournaments.
The 32-year-old opened his account on a second penalty attempt after Livakovic saved the first, only for video review to show the goalkeeper had both feet off the line when Kane struck the ball.
Kane chose the same direction on the retake, sending the ball toward the right post as Livakovic dove the other way, to his right.
The spot kick was awarded after Luka Modric, the 40-year-old midfielder who extended his Croatian record by playing in his fifth World Cup, caught Noni Madueke in the thigh.
Kane then equaled Lineker’s mark when the Bayern Munich forward rose to power a header past Livakovic from a corner delivered by Declan Rice. Kane now has 81 international goals.
“We scored two goals that were good actions and good situations, but they were too little,” Croatia coach Zlatco Dalic said through an interpreter. “England was very difficult, (we) also have to be strong on the defensive side.”
Bellingham nearly scored again right away after collecting his seventh goal for England. Livakovic stopped that effort and then turned away about half a dozen more chances during a frantic spell of English pressure.
“We could have scored probably three goals in that 20-minute spell coming out (after halftime),” Kane said. “In the end, we just had too much for a great team that will probably go far in the tournament themselves.”
Musa became the first active player from Dallas of Major League Soccer to score in a World Cup, with MLS playing its home matches about 40 miles from AT&T Stadium.
The retractable-roof stadium, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, offered a welcome air-conditioned escape from the heavy Texas heat for fans in the stands, including white-clad English supporters and Croatian fans wearing the country’s familiar red-and-white checkered colors, rather than the blue kits worn by the players.
Musa got on the end of a header from Ivan Perisic and finished a one-touch effort past Jordan Pickford, who was also beaten in the 36th minute by Baturina. That shot to the left corner brushed Pickford’s hand on the way through.
Bukayo Saka’s pass created space for Rashford as the Barcelona player entered the box, feinted with his left foot and scored his 19th international goal with his right.
“I loved the second half, all of it,” Tuchel said. “I encouraged them to go for it. To play with more courage, to be brave, to be ourselves. And like I said, I loved their reaction.”
England next faces Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in Group L on Tuesday, while Croatia meets Panama in Toronto the same day.
