Kane impressed by Three Lions' second-half show

England captain Harry Kane felt the Three Lions were worthy winners in their FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Croatia.

The Bayern Munich striker scored twice to help fire the Three Lions to a 4-2 victory in Dallas, with his first coming from the penalty spot before he added his second with a firm header from a Declan Rice corner to go level with Gary Lineker as England's top World Cup goalscorer with 12 goals.

But with Croatia twice finding an equaliser to send the teams in level at the break, it took a strong second-half performance from Thomas Tuchel’s men with further goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford sealing the three points.

“It was a game of two halves,” said Kane.

“I thought the first half, we were okay, but I was really disappointed to concede in the way we did and the way we dropped off.

“Credit to the manager, he gave us a speech at half time and said: ‘Look, if we lose, we lose, but we lose in our way.’

“I think you saw that in the second half. We came out full of gas and they couldn't live with it. That's the level we have to set in every game.

“Without the ball, we became a little more aggressive. It was difficult because they've got great players. When Luka [Modric] was dropping in, we were trying to work out who to pick up.

“But in the second half, we thought; ‘Let's just go.’