Harry Kane credited England head coach Thomas Tuchel’s half-time speech for the side’s second-half performance. | Photo Credit: AP

Captain Harry Kane credited Thomas Tuchel with delivering a half-time team talk that propelled England to a 4-2 win over Croatia to launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 title bid on Wednesday.

Kane scored twice in the first half of a chaotic encounter in Texas, one a retaken penalty, only for 2018 runners-up Croatia to fight back to go in 2-2 at the break.

England started the second half with a bang, Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham galloping down the wing before pinging the ball into the bottom corner.

One of the favourite to win the tournament in North America, England conjured up numerous chances after that through Kane, Bellingham and Nico O’Reilly, before substitute Marcus Rashford wrapped up the three points.

The victory showed England at its attacking best, but it was flimsy at the back, especially in the first half.

Asked how it had pulled away after the break, Kane said of the coach Tuchel: “He gave a great speech to be honest, especially the way we conceded that second goal just before the half-time.

“He just told us to let the shackles off, calm down, what are we scared of? Let’s just go.

“The way we conceded that second goal, it’s not the team we want to be, dropping deep, waiting and conceding anyway.

“He kind of just said, what’s the worst that can happen? We lose a match, first group game, we get on with it, we move on, let’s just go and show the world who we can be.

“And I think we’ve done exactly that second half.”

The German Tuchel, tasked with taking England to its first major trophy since 1966, said he thought his side were nervy and passive in the first half.

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Tuchel called the first 45 minutes “complicated”.

“I felt a bit nervy,” he told ITV. “The decisions we took were basically, we chose to go safe and play too many balls backwards.

“We struggled to find the rhythm, didn’t have the confidence to go through the gaps and find the rhythm in some short passes and then the switch of play.”

Tuchel was much happier after the break as England ran out ultimately fairly comfortable winners.

“I love the reaction of the players into the second half, the second half was excellent,” he said.

“We deserved to win, but it was emotional, a lot of emotions involved and it took us a while to get going, but we did get going, and that’s positive.”

Published on Jun 18, 2026