New Delhi: England striker Harry Kane scored a brace in their 4-2 comfortable win against Croatia in Dallas Stadium early Thursday, equalling Gary Lineker’s record of all-time leading goalscorer for the nation in FIFA World Cups.
The England captain entered the tournament with eight goals across previous World Cup appearances in 2018 and 2022. He drew level with Lineker by firing home a clinical first-half brace against the Croatians, hitting the landmark 10-goal mark in just his 12th appearance at the World Cup.
The 32-year-old opened his account in the 12th minute, converting a twice-taken penalty after a VAR review ruled the Croatian goalkeeper had encroached on his initial saved attempt. Kane then doubled his tally in the 42nd minute, rising to powerfully head home a corner from midfielder Declan Rice.
Football analysts said that the first half was “complicated and confusing” for England. They relied on dead-ball situations and lacked incisiveness. Analysts highlighted that Croatia’s experienced midfield ruthlessly exposed England’s defensive gaps.
“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. We went full gas and they couldn’t live with it. Credit to everyone for the first game of the tournament,” Kane had said after the match.
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Next up Ghana
Interestingly, Lineker also scored 10 goals in 12 World Cup matches across the 1986 and 1990 editions. Both strikers have also been World Cup Golden Boot winners – Lineker claimed his six goals in Mexico in 1986, while Kane matched that exact six-goal haul in Russia in 2018.
Sitting just behind Lineker and Kane on England’s all-time tournament charts is the legendary Geoff Hurst. The 1966 World Cup hero sits in third place with five goals in six appearances, with three coming in the famous hat-trick against West Germany that won England their lone World Cup trophy, that too, on home soil.
Rounding out the top tier of English goal scorers at the showpiece event are Sir Bobby Charlton and Michael Owen, who both sit tied just outside the podium positions with four World Cup goals each.
England continue their Group L campaign against Ghana next Tuesday in Boston, and Kane stands just a single goal away from taking sole possession of the all-time record for his country.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)