Quansah gifted Croatia their equalizer, then won the penalty Kane scored to beat them

Jarell Quansah gave Croatia their equalizer at Wembley on Thursday and then, four minutes later, won the penalty that beat them. England's 2-1 Nations League win, sealed by Harry Kane from the spot on the night he became the country's most-capped player, booked a quarterfinal place in March. It also showed how thin Thomas Tuchel's central defense looks with Marc Guéhi and Ezri Konsa missing three days before Spain/

Morgan Rogers put England ahead in the 24th minute. Kane dropped deep and clipped a pass for Jude Bellingham, whose volleyed cross Rogers bundled in after Joško Gvardiol failed to clear. England then went flat. In the 51st minute Kane's Bayern Munich teammate Josip Stanišić blocked his attempt to turn in a Declan Rice cutback, and eight minutes later Croatia were level.

From a Croatia corner, Quansah tried to head the ball back to Jordan Pickford. It was too soft, and Petar Sučić poked it in. The Bayer Leverkusen defender answered almost straight away. At the other end, on an England corner, Ivan Smolčić dragged him down. Referee Morten Krogh didn't give it at first, but VAR sent him to the monitor, and Kane drilled the 64th-minute penalty for his 92nd England goal.

Quansah also slid in to block an Ante Budimir shot in the 88th minute. Still, the Telegraph's ratings called it "not a good night defensively" for him, and a lot of England fans on social media were less kind.

Guéhi pulled out of the squad injured and Konsa was unavailable, so Tuchel paired Quansah with Dan Burn, a 34-year-old who wasn't in his original squad. Before the game he admitted it was "not our favourite situation" and was blunt about what he needed. "We need a partner for Jarell, basically. And then Jarell needs to step up on his level," he said, adding that a new pair would need time "to connect with each other and then connect with the idea of football and then connect with a new goalkeeper behind them."

That was what Wembley looked like. Burn, picked over Jarrad Branthwaite because Tuchel felt the Newcastle captain already knew the high press and man-to-man style, was beaten too easily on one late Croatia chance. Nikola Vlašić clipped wide when he looked set to score in the 82nd minute, and Budimir headed over from a corner in stoppage time. James Garner had a goal ruled out for offside in the 86th.

This was the same Croatia side England beat 7-0 last month. Sky Sports' Rob Dorsett called the game "instantly forgettable" and the team "flat" and "lifeless," with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall and Elliot Anderson the exceptions.

The group comes down to Sunday's game against world champions Spain in Madrid, with the winner taking first place and a seeded spot in the March quarterfinal draw. Spain won 2-0 in Prague on Thursday, with Álex Baena scoring a penalty and Marc Pubill adding a goal deep in stoppage time, and have now won all five of their group games. Konsa is hoping to be back for that one. If he isn't, Tuchel goes to Spain's pressing midfield with the same pairing that nearly gave away a lead at home, and Quansah will need the

begining of that game to look nothing like his 59th minute.