Thomas Tuchel praises Harry Kane's focus as England set up weekend 'final' with 2-1 Nations League win over Croatia

The game will only decide who wins the group, not who lifts the trophy, with England then going into a quarter-final next year.

As a game, their 2-1 win at home to Croatia was nothing to write home about, a far cry from the Three Lions' brilliant 7-0 win in the reverse fixture.

But for Kane it was a special night which saw him presented with the Ballon d'Or and a gift from the Croatian federation, welcomed by a huge tifo and saw him mark breaking England's appearance record with brilliant pass for Morgan Rogers’ opening goal, and the winning penalty.

"I just know that it's also demanding for him," said England coach Tuchel of his captain.

"He would maybe never admit it but it's demanding to get all the recognition, all the prizes, all the acknowledgement. Of course the gentleman he is, he responds to everything but it's draining, it's demanding.

"It would be easy to lose focus, which he obviously never does.

"We were determined to get this result on his special evening. That he got it in the end with a decisive penalty makes it even more perfect.

"It was a tight match because we didn't take our chances when we had the chances so it was a tight match, which is good overall becuase it can't always be glamorous and super-exciting. Sometimes it's about being serious and determined.

"We got the job done. We wanted a final on Sunday in Spain."

Only a victory over the world and European champions will see England top the group.

The Three Lions took the lead on Thursday after Kane's wonderful pass released Jude Bellingham to lay on the chance for Rogers, but conceded at a second-half corner following Jarell Quansah's poor header, only for Kane to score from the penalty spot five minutes later.

Asked to review the performance, Tuchel said: "I think it was overall an okay performance.

"It took us a while to figure the press out because they played in a back five, not a back four. They had two shielding midfielders when they had the ball so it needed a lot of communication.

"We wanted to stay in our structure but then you need to push high with a winger on each side and full-backs need to follow against the wing-backs and the centre-backs need to be very aggressive on their No 10s.

"Once we figured that out after 12, 15 minutes I think we were the better team, created chances and you felt the confidence coming.

"We had some good one-on-ones, some good dropping of shoulders to win one-on-one situations and create superiority but we couldn't score.

"We were a bit sloppy in the last five minutes of the first half.

"There was a good reaction, a good start to the second half, we created a beautiful chance for Harry through Declan Rice and were dangerous for 15 minutes, I think.

"Then we got sloppy again for five minutes, had some easy ball losses and got punished on a set piece

"We needed to show a reaction and in the end Croatia had nothing to lose and had a lot of attacking players on the pitch."

Kane was touched by the love he was shown before the game.

"It was incredible," commented the England captain, whose second-half penalty was his 92nd international goal. "Just everything was amazing. A big thank you to everyone who organised it.

"I knew there was going to be something before the game it was just a special moment.

"It's been a crazy three weeks.

"It's an important moment in our national history so you have to enjoy these moments.

"These occasions feel much better when you win.

"I was trying to play it cool and not smile too much. I tired to stay focussed on the kob and make sure my four kids were walking out properly.

"It is important to recognise all of our great players.

"To have that is obviously a really special moment."