Harry Kane marked his record 126th England cap with the winning goal as England beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley on Thursday night to reach the quarter-finals of the Nations League. Kane's 64th-minute penalty, rolled down the middle after a VAR check, was his 92nd goal for his country and settled a game England never quite took by the scruff of the neck.

Morgan Rogers had put Thomas Tuchel's side ahead on 24 minutes, but a mistake by Jarell Quansah let Petar Sucic equalise on 59 minutes. Quansah made amends five minutes later, winning the penalty when he was held by Ivan Smolcic at a corner.

The night belonged to Kane before a ball was kicked. The captain, 33, led the team out with his four children, in front of a giant tifo bearing his name and followed by his Ballon d'Or trophy. Peter Shilton, whose 125 caps had been the record since 1990, presented him with a trophy, Croatia captain Luka Modric handed over a gift from the Croatian Football Federation, and Prince William gave him a commemorative shirt.

Croatia, beaten 7-0 in Rijeka in the last international break, were a different side. Slaven Bilic's team started brightly, and England were sloppy by their own standards. Trent Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away cheaply in the third minute and Croatia forced two early corners. Alexander-Arnold had a shot blocked on 19 minutes, and Josip Misic dragged one wide for Croatia three minutes later.

The opener came from Kane dropping deep. His chipped pass found Jude Bellingham at the back post, Bellingham knocked the ball back across goal, and after a scramble with Josko Gvardiol, Rogers bundled it over the line before Dominik Livakovic could get back.

Mateo Kovacic shot straight at Jordan Pickford from distance and Alexander-Arnold drove over before half-time, but England could not add a second. They should have done six minutes after the break, when Rogers slipped in Declan Rice and his square ball for Kane was blocked by Josip Stanisic, Kane's Bayern Munich team-mate.

Instead Croatia drew level. Gvardiol knocked down a corner and Quansah, caught in two minds six yards out, tried to head the ball back to Pickford. It fell short, and Sucic nipped in to poke it into the net.

England's reply was swift. Within five minutes Smolcic held and pulled Quansah at an England corner, and the Danish referee Morten Krogh went to the pitchside monitor before pointing to the spot and booking Smolcic. Kane, who had missed his last penalty for Bayern, waited for Livakovic to dive to his left and went straight down the middle. It was the 27th penalty among his 92 England goals, and the fifth time he has scored in at least five England games in a row. He has seven goals in this Nations League campaign.

Bilic sent on Ante Budimir, and later Modric, and Croatia finished the stronger. Nikola Vlasic turned away from Dan Burn and dragged a shot wide on 81 minutes, and Budimir headed off target from a corner in stoppage time. At the other end the substitute James Garner thought he had his first England goal on 87 minutes, but Bellingham was offside before he cut the ball back.

England had 54 per cent of the ball and 15 shots to Croatia's 13, but only four on target to Croatia's five. The crowd was 80,484. Croatia have lost four games in a row for the first time in their history.

Kane is now 39 goals clear of any other England player and eight short of 100. Victory takes England into next year's quarter-finals, and they go to Madrid on Sunday to play Spain, the world champions, who won 2-0 in the Czech Republic on Thursday. A win would put England top of Group A3 on goal difference. Spain beat England at Wembley in September.

“Breaking the record is a massive thing in the history of our game, seeing the tifo there, having my kids with me, and being presented by all the people was beyond dreams.” — Harry Kane, England captain, to BBC Radio 5 Live, via BBC Sport

“We got the job done and it was important because it was a special occasion for Harry and he scored the winner, so perfect evening.” — Thomas Tuchel, England head coach, to ITV, via BBC Sport

Italy came from behind to beat France 3-1 at San Siro and hand Zinedine Zidane his first defeat as France head coach. Zidane, who replaced Didier Deschamps after the World Cup, had won three and drawn one.

France led on 10 minutes when the Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma passed straight to Michael Olise, who beat a couple of defenders and fired in. Pio Esposito equalised on 26 minutes with a clever near-post finish from Nicolo Cambiaghi's ball.

Sebastiano Esposito missed a penalty before Davide Frattesi lashed in a second from Federico Dimarco's pass on 63 minutes, and Pio Esposito scored a second penalty on 75 minutes. The 21-year-old Inter striker has nine goals in 14 caps. It was Italy's first home win over France since 1962, in front of 71,452.

Roberto Mancini's side top Group A1 on head-to-head, level with France on 10 points and a point ahead of Belgium, who came from behind to win 2-1 in Turkey. Belgium host Italy on Sunday and France play Turkey; the top two go through.

Manchester United sacked Michael Carrick on Thursday morning, with the club in the relegation zone after one win in 10 Premier League games, and have agreed a deal for USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino, Sky Sports reports. Pochettino is expected to sign for two and a half years, with an announcement due today, and will take over after the USA's two games against Haiti. His first match is at Liverpool on 22 November.

Crystal Palace have sacked Pierre Sage after five months, with the club bottom of the Premier League after four straight league defeats and the worst defensive record in the division, 24 goals conceded. Three of his coaching staff have also gone. Sage, 47, joined on a three-year contract in June. Thomas Frank, out of work since Tottenham sacked him in February, is in advanced talks to take over, BBC Sport reports.

Andy Robertson will equal Sir Kenny Dalglish's Scotland record of 102 caps if he plays against North Macedonia at Hampden tonight, and would break it in Switzerland on Monday. The Tottenham left-back, who won his first cap as a 19-year-old in Warsaw in March 2014, says thinking about it gives him goosebumps. Dalglish's mark has stood for 40 years. "I've always doubted myself and that's always got the best out of me," he says.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente has denied that Lamine Yamal was given special privileges by being allowed to join the squad late. The 19-year-old stayed in Barcelona for treatment on inflammation in his right knee instead of travelling to Prague. "We would have done this for any other player," De la Fuente said. He expects Yamal, who has 13 goals in 16 games for Barcelona this season, to join up today. Spain play England in Madrid on Sunday.

Wales winger Dan James expects Norway to be "even more up for" Saturday's Nations League game in Oslo (17:00) after Wales came from behind to beat them in Cardiff last month. Another win would take Craig Bellamy's side to within touching distance of third place in the group and a better seeding for Euro 2028 qualifying. Norway are on their worst run of form in a decade.