Harry Kane Scores Two as Golden Boot Race Heats Up

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World-class strikers are certainly living up to their reputations at the North and Central American World Cup. After Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, and Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland each netted two goals yesterday (June 17), Harry Kane led England to victory today with a two-goal performance.

Reporter Seo Dae-won has the story.

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England, which suffered a painful defeat to Croatia in the semifinals of the 2018 Russia World Cup, faced a "rematch" eight years later and earned a penalty kick opportunity in the 9th minute of the first half.

Although Kane's initial shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, it was confirmed that the keeper had moved early, leading to a retake. This time, Kane finished cleanly.

When Croatia responded with an equalizer from Baturina, Kane rose to the occasion once again.

In the 42nd minute of the first half, he connected with a corner kick from Declan Rice, sending a powerful header into the back of the net.

Kane, who was the top scorer at the Russia World Cup with six goals and scored two goals in Qatar four years ago, reached a career total of 10 World Cup goals with this multi-goal performance in his opening match.

England conceded another equalizer in stoppage time of the first half, but pulled ahead in the second half with consecutive goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Then, in second-half stoppage time, thanks to Kane's fighting spirit—including a desperate block against a decisive shot from the opponent—England secured a 4-2 victory, avenging their defeat from eight years ago.

Following Messi's three goals yesterday, and two goals each from Mbappé and Haaland, Kane—a three-time consecutive Bundesliga top scorer—also netted two, igniting the race for the Golden Boot early on.

[Harry Kane / Captain of the England National Football Team: Of course, I saw the goals from the other players yesterday. It seems like everyone was itching to get out there and play. I am very happy to have scored two goals.]

In other matches, Ghana, England's second-round opponent, defeated Panama 1-0, with 73-year-old manager Carlos Queiroz setting a record as the oldest head coach to win a match in tournament history.

Colombia defeated Uzbekistan 3-1 in their World Cup debut.

(Video Editing: Park Jung-sam)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.