“‘You saw us at our best level’: Kane hails second‐half storm as England blitz Croatia 4-2 | OneFootball

Harry Kane has revealed the half-time message that Thomas Tuchel told his England team after the Three Lions opened their World Cup campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia.

A strong second-half showing from England ensured a win on opening night, after an open first half had seen four goals evenly shared.

Kane opened the scoring with a re-taken penalty after Luka Modric had hacked down Noni Madueke, but Martin Baturina's brilliant effort levelled for Croatia.

England showcased their set-piece strength when Kane headed home unmarked from a Declan Rice corner, only for Croatia to level again before half-time. A fine flowing move saw Peter Musa side-foot past Jordan Pickford to equalise before the break.

But England came out from the interval with bite. Jude Bellingham charged through to fire England ahead just two minutes after the restart, as part of an early onslaught.

Wave after wave of attack saw England pepper the Croatian goal, with Dominik Livakovic forced into seven saves in a 12-minute spell. Two further efforts missed the target.

A fourth goal eventually arrived via substitute Marcus Rashford, as a quick counter ended with a calm finish.

This was an encouraging performance from England, against a side that has finished as runners-up and in third place at the last twoWorld Cups.

Speaking toBBC Sport at full-time, Kane revealed Tuchel's half-time message to lift the tempo and take the game to Croatia.

"The boss said at half-time to up the tempo, go man for man and completely take the game to them, and that is exactly what happened.

"You saw us at our best level, both with and without the ball and we could have scored three or four goals in that 20-minute spell in the second half.

"We did what we needed to do and finished the game off nicely at the end."