Kane's Double Drives England Past Croatia 4-2 in World Cup Opener

England got the win, and very nearly gave their manager a coronary getting it. Harry Kane scored twice as Thomas Tuchel's side beat Croatia 4-2 in Dallas on Wednesday, opening their World Cup with three points and a defence that looked anything but settled.

Kane has rarely needed a second invitation, though on this occasion he got one. He opened from the penalty spot in the 12th minute, but not cleanly: his first effort was saved, an encroachment in the box forced a retake, and the captain made no mistake the second time. Croatia hit back through Martin Baturina, whose strike was the pick of the night, before Kane nodded England back in front from Declan Rice's corner.

That should have steadied things. It didn't. Petar Musa slipped in behind the England line to level at 2-2 before the break, exposing exactly the kind of gap that will haunt Tuchel against sharper finishers later in this tournament.

Jude Bellingham settled it within moments of the restart, cutting inside and bending a shot in off the post, a goal of individual quality on a night when England's collective shape kept fraying at the seams. Marcus Rashford, on from the bench, added the fourth five minutes from time to turn a jittery lead into a scoreline that flattered the performance.

The brace carried history with it. Kane drew level with Gary Lineker on 10 World Cup goals for England, the most any player has managed for the country at the tournament, and pushed his tally across major international tournaments to 17. For a striker so often damned with faint praise, the milestones keep stacking up while nobody is quite looking.

Croatia will not feel far away from this. The Modric generation, the veteran himself withdrawn just before the hour, pushed England around for long spells and twice clawed level, and Baturina's emergence hands them a forward line worth fearing. England's opening night fit the pattern of a weekend that has belonged to the forwards, with Lionel Messi matching Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup record and Erling Haaland scoring twice on Norway's return in the same cycle of fixtures.

For England, the result matters more than the manner, at least this week. Tuchel has a clean sheet to chase and a back line to repair before the group tightens, and Croatia gave him a long list of things to fix on the flight back to their base in Kansas. He also has the one asset that papers over a multitude of defensive sins: a captain who simply keeps scoring. On a chaotic night in Texas, that was enough.