The China Mail - Kane double fires England World Cup bid as Ronaldo's Portugal stumble

In Arlington, Texas, Harry Kane scored twice to bring his World Cup tally to 10 and Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford got the other goals but England looked shaky in defense as they opened their attempt to end a 60-year wait for a major trophy.

England skipper Kane got the ball rolling by slotting home a penalty after he was allowed to re-take it because Croatian 'keeper Dominik Livakovic was adjudged to have been off his line.

Croatia fought back and Martin Baturina brought them level after 36 minutes before unmarked Kane equalled Gary Lineker's England World Cup goals tally with a thumping header.

But the English defensive frailties were on show when Petar Musa equalized for Croatia in first-half stoppage time.

Only in the second half did England impose their will. Bellingham scored a classy goal after outrunning his defender before substitute Rashford took his time before slotting the ball into the net on 85 minutes.

Kane revealed that England's German coach Thomas Tuchel had addressed the players at half-time.

"The manager gave us a speech at half-time just to say, look, if we lose, we lose. We're losing our way," Kane said.

"And I think you saw that, the way we come out in the second half. We went full gas. And they couldn't live with it."

- Struggling Ronaldo -

Earlier, Portuguese great Ronaldo, 41, equalled the record of six World Cups set on Tuesday by his old nemesis Lionel Messi but his side were held to an upset 1-1 draw by DR Congo.

Ronaldo found the going tough against a resolute Congolese defense in Houston.

Joao Neves opened the scoring for the Portuguese in the first half but Yoane Wissa of English Premier League club Newcastle equalized with a headed goal in first-half injury time to give the Congolese their first ever World Cup point.

The DRC's achievement was even greater given that their preparations have been disrupted by the Ebola outbreak in their country.

"It is a tremendous source of pride to have earned DR Congo's first-ever point at the FIFA World Cup, as well as its first goal," their coach Sebastien Desabre said.

"I am very proud of my players because they represented the Congo in a very positive way and the entire country deserves it."

Several Portugal players meanwhile wore wrist bands in tribute to late team-mate Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash last year.

In other games Wednesday, Ghana face Panama in Toronto in England's Group L.

Then first-time qualifiers Uzbekistan tackle Colombia at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in Group K, the same group as Portugal.

- Messi magic -

Wednesday's action got under way with the World Cup still buzzing from Messi's magical hat-trick for Argentina in a 3-0 win against Algeria on Tuesday to equal the all-time World Cup goalscoring record.

Messi, 38, started his 200th international appearance by claiming a piece of history, becoming the first man to play in six World Cups as he led Argentina onto the field at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.

He proceeded to score the first hat-trick of his World Cup career.

A 17th-minute curling strike took his World Cup goals tally to 14, putting him alongside German legend Gerd Mueller and France superstar Kylian Mbappe in the all-time rankings.

He then joined Brazilian great Ronaldo on 15 goals in the 60th minute after pouncing on a rebound to make it 2-0.

In the 76th minute, Messi swept in a low finish to move level with former Germany forward Miroslav Klose on 16 goals before departing to a standing ovation.

P.Ho--ThChM