Southgate hails Kane as best in the world

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World Cup. Southgate said: “Harry’s the best goalscorer in the world, frankly. We’ve huge belief in him. He’s so hungry to lead the team on and further.

“The biggest thing is the connection with fans – I’ve not seen the new Wembley like that. The way it feels with the fans is special. It’s giving us the energy to try to go on and break new barriers all the time.”

Andrej Kramaric put Croatia ahead shortly before the hour, but the comeback was sparked when substitute Jesse Lingard put England level in the 78th minute and Kane sealed the win late on.

Southgate (above, with Raheem Sterling), whose decision to stick by the Spurs striker has been queried at times, added: “You’re always loath to take a player of Harry’s ability off. He played a fantastic pass for Raheem Sterling after dropping off deep and turning in the first half.

“I know people have questioned some of my decisions, but Harry’s our main penalty taker, our leader. In 98 per cent of games, his hold-up play and goalscoring is critical.

“We knew if we had to accelerate, we had gamechangers on the bench. In the last five minutes we were mature enough to see things through.

“We haven’t sat back after the summer and preened ourselves. We’ve progressed. People can see the style and start to believe in what we’re doing.”

England will discover their semi-final opponents on December 3. Southgate added: “The depth in the squad since the summer has grown with the young players.”

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