14 hours ago
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Bayern Munich star
©TM/IMAGO
It was nervy at points but England’s class shone through as they kickstarted their World Cup campaign with a deserved 4-2 win against Croatia. Thomas Tuchel’s men were the last major nation to feature at the tournament and they will be amongst favourites to reach the final in New Jersey on July 19th. It was an absorbing encounter in Dallas and England twice surrendered the lead in the first half with Croatia showing great resilience, equalising just before the break to make it 2-2.
England, however, made the perfect start after the interval with Jude Bellingham reestablishing their lead just two minutes into the second half. England spurned several clear cut chances and Croatia threatened to equalise for a third time, but Marcus Rashford ended the contest with a fine finish on the counter attack. Harry Kane was once again the star man for England, scoring both their goals in the first half and the Three Lions captain equalled history in the process.
Harry Kane equals England World Cup scoring record
Kane was in prolific form for Bayern Munich last season with 61 goals for the Bundesliga champions and he continued that excellence against Croatia. With his double, Kane reached double figures in the World Cup and equalled Gary Lineker's record for most goals in the competition with England on ten. Interestingly, both players reached that milestone in 12 games and Kane will surely surpass Lineker during the group stages.
As the graphic above illustrates, Sir Geoff Hurst ranks third after scoring five goals in six games and he famously became the first player ot score a hat-trick in a World Cup final in the win over West Germany in 1966. Three players are tied on four goals; Michael Owen, Rashford and Sir Bobby Charlton - Rashford made the list with the final goal against Croatia.
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