Harry Kane explains the strategy behind his stuttered penalty run-up

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Kane puts England ahead against Croatia with retaken penalty By Dale Johnson Football issues correspondent Published 17 June 2026 Harry Kane says he knew his stuttered run-up might draw goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic off his goalline - enabling him to score a penalty at the second attempt in England's 4-2 win over Croatia in their World Cup opener. The Bayern Munich striker was able to give England the lead from the penalty spot - but only thanks to the video assistant referee (VAR). After Luka Modric fouled Noni Madueke, Kane stepped up - and saw his first effort saved by Croatia keeper Livakovic. The VAR stepped in to give Kane a second chance because Livakovic was off his line. "When I watched the clips I saw he likes to move early, so I knew that there was a chance that if I did the stutter that he would come off the line," Kane told BBC Sport. "I was 80% sure that it was off the line, I wasn't 100% sure, then obviously when it got retaken I changed the technique a little bit. This is all why I do the research, and in the end it worked out nicely for me." At the time a penalty is taken the keeper must have one foot on or above the line, and images showed that Livakovic had moved fractionally too soon. But even if the keeper had stayed on his line, the penalty would still have been retaken. After Livakovic made the save the loose ball dropped to Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol to clear for Croatia. But he had also moved too quickly and was inside the area when Kane took his first attempt. This is not an automatic retake, as the defender must impact an opposition attacker. Madueke was behind Gvardiol, so by clearing the ball he prevented the Arsenal winger from getting a shot from the rebound. Kane duly despatched at the second attempt. Image source, Fifa Image caption, Harry Kane was allowed a second chance to take his penalty after Dominik Livakovic left his line early I tried to encourage them to go for it - Tuchel Published 1 hour ago Who was the biggest attacking threat? England player ratings Published 9 hours ago To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Highlights: A six goal thriller ends England 4-2 Croatia Kane's previous with retaken penalties Interestingly, Kane had a similar penalty saved for Bayern Munich in the Champions League against Atalanta earlier this season. Afterwards the forward said he had seen that the goalkeeper liked to come off his line, adding: "I knew that if I stopped, there was a good chance he'd come too far forward. And that's exactly what happened." Following Kane's penalty against Croatia, former Three Lions defender Conor Coady told 5 Live: "He can take any sort of penalty. He is that good at penalties. "That is really clever if that is something he is thinking of, if he is watching other keepers and how they move and what they do