Kane marks record 126th England cap with winner as England beat Croatia 2-1 to reach Nations League quarter-finals
Harry Kane passed Peter Shilton as England's most-capped men's player with his 126th appearance and scored the winning penalty in a 2-1 Nations League victory over Croatia at Wembley.
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Harry Kane became England's most-capped men's player and scored the winner from the penalty spot as England beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley on Thursday night to book a place in the Nations League quarter-finals.
The captain's 126th appearance took him past Peter Shilton's long-standing record, and he marked it the way he has marked most landmarks: with a goal. Morgan Rogers had put England ahead in the 24th minute, finishing after Kane dropped deep to pick out Jude Bellingham at the back post, and Petar Sucic levelled for Croatia just before the hour. Kane restored the lead from the spot in the 64th minute, his 92nd goal for his country.
The win was England's fourth in a row under Thomas Tuchel and guarantees a top-two finish in Group A3, with the quarter-finals to come in March. England travel to Madrid on Sunday, where victory over world champions Spain would put them top of the group. Croatia, beaten 7-0 by England in Rijeka last month, have now lost four games in a row for the first time in their history. Jobe Bellingham, named in the squad alongside his brother Jude for the first time, was an unused substitute and did not make his debut.
The record and the scoreline are a matter of the match record: Kane matched Shilton's benchmark during the last international break and passed it on Thursday, and the 92nd goal is his own tally. The one piece of the evening that did not happen was the brothers' shared debut — Jobe stayed on the bench, so the first pair of brothers to play together for England since Gary and Phil Neville will have to wait for Madrid.
Records of this kind tend to arrive quietly and then look inevitable. Shilton's mark stood for more than three decades, and Kane has passed it while still scoring at a rate that keeps the goals record moving with it. Sunday in Madrid is the sharper test: Spain beat England in the reverse fixture, and topping the group would change the draw England face in March.