Harry Kane put England ahead in england v croatia by converting a retaken penalty at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The England captain had seen his first effort saved by Dominik Livakovic before the spot kick was ordered back and the score moved to 1-0. It gave England the opening goal in their World Cup 2026 Group L match.
Kane and Livakovic in Dallas
Kane stayed over the ball after the save and made the second chance count. Livakovic had been deemed to be off his line, which sent the referee back to the penalty decision and turned a save into a restart.
Paul Robinson described the finish on 5 Live with a pair of blunt reads on the moment. “That's better Harry, that's how you take them.” He added, “That takes a huge amount of courage to step up again, go through the process again.”
England's opening World Cup game
The context was simple: this was England's opening World Cup game, and the goal came in the first major swing of the match. Robinson had already said of the missed effort, “It's not his usual standard, Harry Kane. You hope for England that they get a lifeline.”
That lifeline arrived in the form of a retake, and Kane finished the job. The scoreboard now showed England 1-0 up, with Croatia forced to chase the match from the first half in Dallas.
Rooney, Hart and Richards
A post-match reaction show with Rooney, Hart and Richards was scheduled to appear on the page after full-time, giving the match a second round of analysis once the final whistle went. For viewers following the live coverage, the key details were already fixed: Kane scored, Livakovic's position triggered the retake, and England had the lead they wanted at AT&T Stadium.
