England kicked off the final international break with the UEFA Nations League welcome of Croatia.
The Three Lions went into the game on Thursday with a quarter-final spot all-but wrapped up. After all, they obliterated Croatia 7-0 in the reverse fixture. It was essentially an exhibition match in early October.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Harry Kane dominated the pre-match narrative. The Bayern Munich hitman went clear of Peter Shilton as England’s all-time appearance holder. Thursday’s game at Wembley marked the 126th time he’s represented his nation, moving one clear of the former goalkeeper. A giant tifo was unveiled beforehand to commemorate the achievement.
This time around, it took England a little longer to get up and running. Kane had already scored by the time Elliot Anderson fired over in the 15th minute as the Three Lions didn’t start with the same zip and intensity as they did in Rijeka last month.
After a slow start, England finally found the breakthrough midway through the first half. Kane played a raking pass to Jude Bellingham, who picked out Morgan Rogers with a fine first-time cross, albeit via a Josko Gvardiol air-kick. The Chelsea man didn’t make a great connection, but it was enough to squirm past Dominik Livakovic.
Croatia, to their credit, didn’t crumble having gone behind. Rather, Rogers’ goal seemed to settle Slaven Bilic’s side. Mateo Kovacic tested Jordan Pickford from range, though the Everton man was equal to the midfielder’s effort. Five minutes before the break, Trent Alexander-Arnold rifled over from range, while Martin Baturina saw a low drive easily gathered by Pickford in a subdued opening 45.
Desperate to mark the occasion with a goal, Kane saw a second-half effort blocked by Josip Stanisic following some good play down the right by Rogers and Declan Rice. Bellingham then saw a low hit denied by Livakovic after Anthony Gordon looked to have been fouled in the box. The Barcelona man then rifled a shot wide of the far post as England came racing out of the blocks after the break.
However, it was Croatia who struck shortly before the hour mark as Petar Sucic capitalised upon Jarell Quansah’s attempted header back to Pickford to rifle in the equaliser. The Vatreni were level for all of five minutes, with Quansah involved in England’s second. The defender was hauled down by right-back Ivan Smolcic following a corner and, after a VAR review, the Three Lions were awarded a penalty.
Kane duly dispatched of the spotkick to bag his 92nd England goal on his 126th international outing. Croatia pushed for another equaliser, and were given a reprieve when James Garner’s first and England’s third was chalked off for offside with five minutes to play.
Ante Budimir should have done better in second-half injury time having headed over from close range. And while Croatia were much-improved this time around, it wasn’t enough to exact revenge upon Thomas Tuchel’s men.
Kane’s performance on his 126th outing
Kane at least scored on his record-setting appearance for the Three Lions. The Bayern Munich striker struck for the first time since his Ballon d’Or triumph last month, even if he needed to do so from the spot.
It was Kane’s cross-field pass for Bellingham, meanwhile, that resulted in England’s opener. On the whole, however, it wasn’t a stand-out showing from the England skipper on his 126th outing.
Indeed, Kane failed to create a goalscoring chance and managed just two shots across the 90 minutes. Of all England starters, he touched the ball the fewest times (34). It was an evening to be celebrated, for sure, but Kane will have hoped for a more memorable performance.
Croatia’s improved resolve
Fans trekking to Wembley on a cold Thursday night will have hoped for a repeat of the reverse fixture between England and Croatia. The Three Lions trounced their European counterparts 7-0 in early October.
Yes, they saw England claim all the spoils. On the whole, however, they will have headed home disappointed. And that’s due to a more defensively disciplined Croatia side. They gave up just four shots on target, an improvement on the 10 they conceded on home turf.
They also made more tackles this time around (22 to 15) and enjoyed a larger share of possession (45.9% to 36.4%). It wasn’t pretty, but at least Croatia put up more of a fight when the pair locked horns at Wembley.
England’s defensive fragility
Three of the five defensive players that started the 7-0 win in Croatia featured from the outset on Thursday night. Pickford kept his spot between the sticks. Quansah featured once more, albeit moving from right-back to centre-back, while Lewis Hall retained his place in the XI.
However, it was clear that England missed the calming presence of Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa at the back. The partnership of Quansah and Dan Burn just didn’t fit together correctly, which presented Croatia with a number of opportunities to rescue a result in London.
In fact, it was Quansah’s second-half mistake that presented Croatia with a chance to work their way back into the game, one they duly grabbed with both hands. Ultimately, Kane’s spotkick meant the error wasn’t costly. On another night, however, England would have lost that game owing to a sub-par defence.