Calls erupt for FIFA to ban England tactic that helped seal victory against Croatia

FIFA have been told to take action.

The Three Lions took charge of the tournament's group L, with a dominant second half performance, that saw Thomas Tuchel's side climb to the top of the standings, despite a 1-0 victory for Ghana later in the day.

After an equal first half ended 2-2, as Harry Kane's brace was neutralised by equalisers first from Martin Baturina and then Petar Musa, Jude Bellingham put his nation firmly in control after the interval, and England never looked back, with Marcus Rashford later rounding off the result thanks to a Bukayo Saka assist.

While few can doubt that England were deserving winners over the full 90 minutes, there have been questions over whether the Three Lions should have been permitted to break the deadlock as they did via Harry Kane's 12th minute penalty.

The Bayern Munich striker initially missed the first penalty he was awarded, when Croatian keeper Dominik Livaković made a strong save, but was then handed a respite by referee Clement Turpin, who ordered the spot kick be retaken, ruling that Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol had encroached on play, and that Livaković was off his line before Kane struck the ball.

Per FIFA rules, it is forbidden for either opposition players to be within the penalty area, or a goalkeeper to be stood any further forward than the goal-line, before the kick is taken.

However, while this is all straightforward, the reason that a number of fans and pundits are calling for FIFA to take action against England, all comes down to the circumstances that led to Livakovic and Gvardiol's enchroachments, and whether Harry Kane may have played a deliberate role.

Speaking to BBC Sport after full-time, Kane revealed how he deliberately "stuttered" his run-up.

“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.

“I was 80 per cent sure that it was off the line, I wasn’t 100 per cent 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.”

Reviewing the game afterwards, former Barcelona, AC Milan, and Ghana star Kevin-Prince Boateng called for Kane's tactic to  "be banned,“ when reviewing the match for media outlet SBS.

This sentiment has been echoed by supporters, with one taking to X to say: "Stuttering run-ups should be banned by international treaty."

Essentially, the likes of Prince Boateng have claimed that Kane's delay meant the keeper would inevitably move off his line before the shot was taken, handing England what they would call an unfair advantage.