Quansah gave Croatia their equaliser and then won the penalty, and Kane scored it on his record 126th cap

Harry Kane’s 126th England cap started with a tifo, a gold England crest from Peter Shilton and his Ballon d’Or on show to the Wembley crowd. It ended with him scoring the winner from the penalty spot. England beat Croatia 2-1 on Thursday and are through to the Nations League quarter-finals.

The appearance takes Kane one clear of Shilton, whose 125 caps had been the record since his last game in 1990. The penalty was Kane’s 92nd goal for England, a record he already held.

Quansah at both ends

England led at half-time. Jude Bellingham crossed in the 24th minute and Morgan Rogers bundled the ball in from close range.

Croatia equalised just before the hour, and Jarell Quansah gave them the goal. He tried to head a ball back to Jordan Pickford, put too little on it, and Petar Sučić got there first to score in the 59th minute.

Five minutes later Quansah made up for it. Ivan Smolčić pulled his shirt in the box at an England corner, the referee gave the penalty, and Kane put it away.

Tuchel calls it “okay”

Last month England beat Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka. This was a long way from that, and Thomas Tuchel did not pretend otherwise. “It was an okay performance overall,” the England coach said.

He put the trouble down to two short spells. “We got a bit sloppy in the last five minutes of the first half,” he said. “We got again sloppy for five minutes and were punished from a set-piece which is uncharacteristic from us.”

Kane is not thinking about stopping

Kane said the night only felt right once the game was won. “As I said before these occasions, you feel much better when you win,” he said. “Now I can take a breath and enjoy the whole night.” He also thanked the Croatian federation for the gift it gave him to mark the record.

He is 33, and the player he pointed to was on the other side. Luka Modrić, his old Tottenham team-mate, is still playing for Croatia at 41. “That inspires me to push the limits,” Kane said. “Whether that’s until I’m 40 or not, we will have to wait and see, but right now, I’m enjoying every moment.”

First place is in Madrid

Spain lead Group A3. The world champions came from behind to win 3-2 at Wembley in September, and the two meet again in Madrid on Sunday in the last round of the group. England can only finish first by winning.

First place matters because group winners are seeded for the two-legged quarter-finals in March, and they play the second leg at home against a runner-up from another group.

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