England v Croatia: Nations League – live

Key events31m agoTuchel on Kane: 'the full package'1h agoThe teams2h agoPreamble2 min: Croatia continue to hog the ball during the early exchanges. “Emlyn Hughes did go to a World Cup, in 1970,” tut-tuts Paul Fields. “He just didn’t win a cap there. He was an unused squad member.”Croatia get the ball rolling. They’re off to a fast (ish) start, Sučić robbing Hall down the right and cutting back for Kovačić, who sends the ball sky high. Goal kick.The teams are out! England are in their first-choice white, forcing Croatia out of their famous red-and-white checks and into their alternative kit of blue. A large tifo in the stand to celebrate “England’s finest: Kane 126”. Kane has four special mascots with him: his four children, all with England tops and “Kane 126” on their back. Kane first lifts his Ballon d’Or, then receives a gong from none other than Mr 125, Peter Shilton, who graciously smiles and congratulates his usurper. Luka Modrić then arrives with a replica of a ball taken by English industrialists to Croatia in 1880. And finally here comes the Prince of Wales, to give Harry one of those Kane 126 shirts in a lovely easy-to-hang frame. Kane raises his arms in weary triumph; after dealing with that little lot, he must be knackered already. We’ll be off in a minute!Pre-match postbag. “With tonight’s record being broken, spare a thought for the holder of a more unwanted record, Emlyn Hughes. He won 62 caps and never got to go to the World Cup or Euros finals” – Roger Kirkby“In the non-Kane-focused-Croatian World of Sport, does Modric’s pine-based residency mean he carried the can for that thing that happened last time? Is he now being shown a Ronaldo-shaped door (the other one)? Do Croatians want this? Is there a ‘Modrić van’ waiting for him every time he is picked?” – Ian Copestake“Just noticed that if you combine the top 11 of the England appearance list you: (a) get a pretty sensible team, and (b) recreate both England’s traditional left-side problem AND the Gerrard-Lampard conundrum. Shilton Walker/Moore/Wright/Cole Beckham/Lampard/Gerrard/Charlton Rooney/Kane Not sure what conclusions to draw from this” – Alex Coldrick-Ford… meanwhile, as for the new-look central defensive pairing of Jarell Quansah and Dan Burn, Tuchel says … “It is never easy … it is a crucial pairing in the centre of defence … we are forced to do it … normally Marc [Guehi] and Ezri [Konsa] are the ones to have the shirt … John Stones is not with us … so Jarell [Quansah] kept his place from the Czech game and we went 51 percent for Dan Burn because of his experience … and we have Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon … so we have a bit of a left side from Newcastle … they know each other … they have done it at the highest level in the Champions League.”… and finally a word about the goalkeepers, with a trip to Spain at the weekend coming up. “I think we will change [from Jordan Pickford to James Trafford] but let’s see.”Tuchel on Kane: 'the full package'Thomas Tuchel speaks to ITV, who ask him about the secret to record-breaking Harry Kane’s success. “There is no secret … it is hard work … it is personality … it is talent, dedication, focus … the full package … he is not normally the loudest voice in the dressing room, but he is still our leader and our captain … it is not easy what he is doing because he gets a lot of praise and more attention than ever … even attention and praise and compliments can be very draining … hopefully he can brush it off and enjoy the match … enjoy the intensity and be decisive for us.”Jude and Jobe Bellingham will become the 22nd set of brothers to play for England if Jobe gets off the bench at any point tonight. If Jude remains on the pitch, they’ll be just the 11th to play together for England: only Bobby and Jackie Charlton, and Gary and Phil Neville, have done that since the war. Here is the full list of brothers to have represented England … Charlie (1872) and William Clegg (1873-79) William (1875-77) and Herbert Rawson (1875) Hubert (1873-78) and Frank Heron (1876) Alfred (1877) and Ed Lyttelton (1878) Ernest (1876), Charlie (1879-87) and Arthur Bambridge (1881) Arthur (1876-83) and Harry Cursham (1880-84) Fred (1880-82) and Jack Hargreaves (1881) Arthur (1885-90) and Percy Walters (1885-90) Alf (1882-84) and Charley Dobson (1886) Charlie (1888) and Alf Shelton (1889-92) Robert (1893-94) and Arthur Topham (1894) Charlie (1890-93) and Tom Perry (1898) Frank (1898-1903) and Fred Forman (1899) Charles (1889) and Geoffrey Wilson (1900) Bertie (1901) and Rex Corbett (1903) Frank (1922-1926) and Reg Osbourne (1927) Clem (1924) and George Stephenson (1928-1931) Jack (1931) and Sep Smith (1935) Bobby (1958-1970) and Jack Charlton (1965-1970) Gary (1995-2007) and Phil Neville (1996-2007) Nathaniel (2018) and Trevoh Chalobah (2025) Kane’s record breaking cap is being celebrated in a number of ways at Wembley.Harry Kane’s shirt inside the England dressing room. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty ImagesA scarf featuring England captain Harry Kane. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PAA Harry Kane 126 England strip in the shop. Photograph: Nick Potts/PAEngland and Harry Kane stickers are seen on a seat number 126. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty ImagesFrom the archive … here’s how the Guardian reported on Peter Shilton’s final cap for England. Harry Kane knocks him off the top of England’s all-time appearance list tonight. Shilton has been there since 7 June 1989, when he earned his 109th cap against Denmark in Copenhagen, besting Bobby Moore’s total in doing so. All things must pass, and a 37-year reign isn’t bad going.Croatia start with some familiar faces in their line-up: Manchester City duo Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol, Brighton defender Luka Vušković, and erstwhile Everton and West Ham striker Nikola Vlašić. Luka Modrić, who suddenly looked all of his 41 years during last month’s seven-goal hammering, is relegated to the bench, but will earn his 207th cap if he gets on tonight.The headline news is obviously Jordan Pickford’s 93rd cap Harry Kane’s record-breaking 126th appearance for England. Thomas Tuchel makes three changes to the side that started the 3-0 win over Czechia: Dan Burn, Declan Rice and Anthony Gordon come in for Marc Guéhi, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Eberechi Eze. For the record, Pickford will still need another 32 caps if he’s to equal Peter Shilton’s all-time goalkeeping total for England.The teamsEngland: Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Burn, Hall, Rice, Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Gordon, Kane, Rogers. Subs: Trafford, Steele, Gibbs-White, White, Hill, Branthwaite, Jobe Bellingham, Garner, Calvert-Lewin, Ngumoha, Eze, King.Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Vuskovic, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Vlasic, Smolcic, Baturina, Sucic, Matanovic, Misic. Subs: Pandur, Kotarski, Caleta-Car, Galesic, Majer, Beljo, Modric, Budimir, Mario Psaslic, Hrgovic, Marco Pasalic, Soticek.Referee: Morten Krogh (Denmark)PreambleA whopping 40 days ago, this happened …… and while Croatia will be desperate to summon some sort of face-saving, reputation-salvaging, self-respect-restoring response tonight, they’d do well to consider that: (a) it’s not very likely, if their defenders again randomly skitter around like they did in Rijeka; (b) it’d almost certainly make not a jot of difference to their borderline-non-existent hopes of making the quarters†, and; (c) hey, they’ve always got the Euro 2008 qualifiers and the 2018 World Cup semi to keep them warm at night. So in that three-part sense, this is a bit of a non-event, though tell that to Harry Kane, who will break the all-time appearance record for the Three Lions‡. Kick-off at Wembley is at 7.45pm GMT. It, almost exclusively for England, is on!†: After the first four matches in Group A3, the table looks like this … 1. Spain P4 GD+7 Pts 12 2. England P4 GD+11 Pts 9 3. Croatia P4 GD-10 Pts 3 4. Czechia P4 GD-8 Pts 0 … which means Spain are definitely through. England are as well, if we’re all being honest with each other. They can only be pipped by Croatia if they lose both of their final two matches in this November break (tonight’s game, then away on Sunday night to Spain) while Croatia win both of theirs (this one, then their hosting of Czechia) and even then, because things would go to the head-to-head, Croatia would have to beat England tonight by a minimum of seven goals.‡: The all-time England men’s appearance list … 125: Peter Shilton, Harry Kane 120: Wayne Rooney 115: David Beckham 114: Steven Gerrard 108: Bobby Moore 107: Ashley Cole 106: Bobby Charlton, Frank Lampard 105: Billy Wright 96: Kyle Walker 94: John Stones 92: Jordan Pickford 91: Jordan Henderson 90: Bryan Robson