It was a penalty that almost never was. Then it was twice. Harry Kane stepped up in the 24th minute after Luka Modric fouled Noni Madueke, only for Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic to save his first effort. The ball fell to Josko Gvardiol, who cleared it. But referee Clement Turpin paused play after consulting the video assistant referee. The reason? Livakovic had come off his line fractionally early, and Gvardiol had encroached into the box before Kane struck the ball — then actively prevented Madueke from a rebound. As ITV rules analyst Christina Unkel put it: "This is the correct decision, there's clear encroachment at the time of the kick by the Croatian player number 4. Retake is the correct decision."
Kane duly dispatched the second attempt, putting England 1-0 up in their World Cup opener in Dallas. The Bayern Munich striker later admitted the stuttered run-up was deliberate. "When I watched the clips I saw he likes to move early, so I knew that there was a chance that if I did the stutter that he would come off the line," Kane told BBC Sport. "I was 80% sure that it was off the line, I wasn't 100% sure, then obviously when it got retaken I changed the technique a little bit. This is all why I do the research, and in the end it worked out nicely for me."
“Harry Kane scored a retaken penalty against Croatia after VAR ruled goalkeeper encroachment.”
Kane had used a similar tactic earlier this season for Bayern Munich against Atalanta in the Champions League, where his stutter also drew the goalkeeper off his line. Former England defender Conor Coady praised the captain's intelligence: "He can take any sort of penalty. He is that good at penalties. That is really clever if that is something he is thinking of, if he is watching other keepers and how they move and what they do."
England went on to win 4-2, with goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford joining Kane's double. But the match's pivotal moment came from a spot-kick taken twice — a moment of calculation and nerve that turned the game.