Kane rescues England to gain tie with Scotland

While Harry Kane didn’t contribute to the glut of hat tricks in European qualifying for the World Cup, the England striker grabbed a crucial equalizer in a chaotic finale against Scotland on Saturday.

A dramatic final six minutes in Group F at Hampden Park saw Scotland come from 1-0 down to take the lead through two Leigh Griffiths free kicks. Kane, captain of England for the first time, volleyed home deep into stoppage time to make it 2-2.

Things were simpler for Germany and Poland, who were aided by hat tricks as the pair continued to dominate their groups.

Despite fielding a weakened team against minnow San Marino, Germany stayed perfect in Group C with a 7-0 win. Sandro Wagner scored a hat trick on just his second appearance for Joachim Loew’s side.

Poland stayed unbeaten as Robert Lewandowski’s hat trick took him level with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the scoring charts. Lewandowski scored two penalties during a 3-1 win over Romania.

But that wasn’t Group E’s only treble. Stevan Jovetic scored Montenegro’s first ever hat trick in a 4-1 victory over Armenia.

Kane, who has led the Premier League’s scoring charts for the last two seasons, had mixed emotions at fulltime.

“It (the goal) is definitely up at the top, it was a special day,” he said. “It looked like we were going to win the game and then like we were going to lose when 2-1 down in stoppage time.

To get the goal was special. I did not know whether the keeper was going to come, so when I saw him stay on his line ... what a ball it was, and it was just a good side-foot into the net.”