Kane's record 92nd goal seals England win over Croatia on historic 126th cap

Harry Kane scored his record-extending 92nd international goal to seal a 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley on Thursday night, becoming England’s most capped men’s player of all time on his 126th appearance. The result confirmed England’s progress into the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals.

Kane had equalled Peter Shilton’s long-standing caps record last month, and Shilton was present at Wembley to make a pre-match presentation to the England captain alongside the Prince of Wales. The occasion clearly weighed on Kane, who described the past weeks as emotionally and physically draining.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks,” Kane told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Of course it takes a lot out of you emotionally, physically and mentally and all these things. I’m very good at staying focused on the job and what needs to be done but it’s a hard balance because you want to take it in. Breaking the record is a massive thing in the history of our game, seeing the tifo there, having my kids with me, and being presented by all the people was beyond dreams.”

The match itself was a far tighter contest than the sides’ previous meeting, when England had thrashed Slaven Bilic’s Croatia 7-0 just 40 days earlier. Kane acknowledged the difference in the two fixtures but was satisfied England found a way through.

The win sets up a top-of-the-table showdown against Spain on Sunday at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium. World champions Spain defeated Czechia 2-0 in Prague on Thursday, extending their historic unbeaten run to 43 matches — a streak that dates back to March 2024. Luis de la Fuente’s side had come from behind to beat England 3-2 in the reverse fixture in September.

Kane is relishing the rematch. “After the first game when we lost here against them, we knew we left a bit out there, we knew we could have done a little bit better,” he said. “We said to ourselves ‘let’s win every game from now until the next one and see what happens’. It’s the perfect opportunity now to try and prove ourselves.”

The captain was also keen to put the milestone in its proper context. “I’ve always said all these big milestones that I’ve had, when you win the game it makes it 10 times better and I’ve been lucky enough to win all of them, especially here at Wembley so it’s nice to do it again.”