Two teams are grasping at history-making in the second semi-final game of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as battling Croatia face a buoyant England side tonight at the Luzhniki Stadium.
France await in the Moscow final on Sunday, after Les Bleus beat Belgium 1-0 in Saint Petersburg last night. The Sportsman looks at four talking points ahead of the match, Croatia versus England.
Can Kane Surpass Lineker?
Gary Lineker has long been heralded as the benchmark for England strikers in the World Cup, his Golden Boot at Mexico 86 held up in absence of any real glory for the national side.
But tonight it could be that, after over 30 years, this will end up simply being just a pub quiz question when Harry Kane takes centre-stage once again in his claim to be considered one of the world’s finest marksmen.
Discount the naysayers who easily discard the Spurs’ man’s penalties accounting for a substantial portion of his current goal-haul. The composure shown by Kane against both Panama and Colombia is enviable for most forwards, and has been exactly the talisman England needed to him to be. His confidence has flowed into the rest of the team and has been detrimental to where England now find themselves. One more goal in either this, or the final, will take him past Lineker’s 1986 return of six. Read more