Harry Kane stepped up for a retaken penalty, smashed it into the bottom corner, and England’s World Cup campaign was alive – but only just. By half-time, they had thrown away the lead twice, and the score was 2-2.
Inside the dressing room at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Thomas Tuchel delivered a message that would flip the game. “Even if we lose, it will not change my perception of the last 17 days, but let’s do it our way,” the England manager told ITV. “We were too focused on protecting the result. We were a back seven and we didn’t defend. If the result doesn’t go our way, we want to play our way. I tried to encourage them to go for it.”
“Tuchel told England 'if we lose, we lose in our way' at half-time, sparking 4-2 World Cup win over Croatia.”
Captain Kane described the moment as pivotal. “Credit to the manager, he gave us a speech at half-time and said if we lose, we lose in our way, and I think we saw that in the way we came out in the second half,” Kane told ITV. “We went full gas and they couldn’t live with it.”
Within two minutes of the restart, Jude Bellingham scored to put England 3-2 ahead. The Real Madrid midfielder said the team talk was “what the team needed”. He added: “We have a mature group with great leaders in there. Everyone knew the level we had to get to.” Marcus Rashford later sealed a 4-2 victory.
England had started brightly. Noni Madueke won a penalty when Luka Modric caught him in the box, and Kane’s first attempt was saved – but a double encroachment by Croatia meant a retake. Kane made no mistake second time. Yet defensive frailties surfaced: Petar Sučić sold John Stones a dummy before Martin Baturina smashed in an equaliser. Declan Rice’s corner then found Kane for a header to restore the lead, but Croatia again pegged England back before half-time.
Kane, who scored twice, now has 200 goal involvements for club and country since joining Bayern Munich. But it was Tuchel’s boldness that defined the night. “Strap yourselves in for a white knuckle ride,” wrote the Mirror’s John Cross. “England got a reward for being bold and aggressive.”
The question now is whether a defence that looked shaky – Stones and Ezri Konsa appeared “strangers at times”, according to Cross – can withstand stronger opposition. Tuchel will have tough calls to make. For one night, though, the message was clear: England will go down playing their way.