Captain Harry Kane struck at the death to hand England a winning start to their World Cup finals campaign as Tunisia finally succumbed.
Kane headed home from close range in the first minute of stoppage time having earlier given his side an 11th-minute lead.
However, England left it desperately late after being pegged back by Ferjani Sassi’s 33rd-minute spot-kick, awarded by Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan for Kyle Walker’s challenge on Fakhreddine Ben Youssef.
Tweet of the match
Love it @HKane!!! ?? ??♂️??♂️ #TUNENG #FifaWorldCup18
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) June 18, 2018
Star man
??????? Harry Kane gives England the lead in Volgograd! ?
Posted by Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, June 18, 2018
Spot of bother
The first African goal of the 2018 FIFA #WorldCup
???#TUNENG pic.twitter.com/sGvKaOdQKq
— FIFA World Cup ? (@FIFAWorldCup) June 18, 2018
England are used to suffering when it comes to penalties, but the misery arrived in slightly different form this time around. Leading 1-0, they conceded the softest of spot-kicks for Kyle Walker’s clumsy 33rd-minute challenge on Fakhreddine Ben Youssef and saw it converted by Ferjani Sassi, who then inexplicably got away with wrestling Kane to the ground at the other end.
Faulty finishing
Player ratings
On to our final match of the day…#TUNENG // #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/RkkMXsDq0T
— FIFA World Cup ? (@FIFAWorldCup) June 18, 2018
Tunisia: Mouez Hassen 7, Dylan Bronn 6, Syam Ben Youssef 5, Yassine Meriah 6, Ali Maaloul 6, Ferjani Sassi 6, Ellyes Skhiri 7, Anice Badri 6, Fakhreddine Ben Youssef 6, Wahbi Khazri 6, Naim Sliti 7. Subs: Farouk Ben Mustapha (for Hassen, 15) 6, Mohamed Ben Amor (for Sliti, 73) 6, Saber Khalifa (for Khazri, 85) 6.
England: Jordan Pickford 6, Kyle Walker 6, John Stones 7, Harry Maguire 7, Kieran Trippier 8, Dele Alli 7, Jordan Henderson 6, Jesse Lingard 5, Ashley Young 6, Raheem Sterling 6, Harry Kane 9. Subs: Marcus Rashford (for Sterling, 68) 6, Ruben Loftus-Cheek (for Alli, 80) 7, Eric Dier (for Lingard, 90) 6.
Who’s up next?
Belgium v Tunisia, Moscow, Saturday, June 23.
England v Panama, Nizhny Novgorod, Sunday, June 24.
