England’s low build-up and Kane dropping deep

England’s use of centre-forward, (9) Harry Kane, to drop deep into defensive midfield territory as the extra man in their FIFA World Cup 2026™ opener against Croatia, caught the eye of FIFA Technical Study Group expert, Paulo Wanchope.

In this article, the former Costa Rica national team player and coach explores Kane’s unique role in the low build-up phase and explains how other players worked to get him free in that space or occupied leaving someone else available.

“As a coach, and a former striker, this really interested me because it made me think about how best to deal with it. It’s not something I’ve seen before. Often it’s man-to-man marking in centre midfield when a team is building up from the back, so to have the centre-forward dropping all the way down to the defensive midfield position to get on the ball was unexpected and disruptive. Do you really want your centre-back coming all the way with him? And if not, how do you deal with him?”

• Building in a back four

• Centre-midfielders (highlighted in image 2 above), (4) Declan Rice and (8) Elliot Anderson clear central space, pulling opposition midfielders away with them

• Centre-forward, (9) Harry Kane drops down deep into centre midfield to create overload

• Wingers, (18) Anthony Gordon and (20) Noni Madueke, stay high and wide, stretching the play and/or pinning the opposition full-backs, positioning to threaten the space in behind.

• Attacking midfielder (10) Jude Bellingham, occupies the half space between opposition midfield and defensive line.

After the first round of games, England ranked number one for in-possession time spent in the low-build-up phase (per 60 minutes ball-in-play time). From the start, Croatia set up with an aggressive man-to-man high press when England were building play in their lower third of the pitch. This strategy was both the trigger and opportunity for centre-forward (9) Harry Kane’s high-to-low movements to create numerical superiority and exploit central space.

England’s centre-midfielders (4) Declan Rice and (8) Elliot Anderson created the central channel space by attracting the defending players and moving them away from the central channel.

Wanchope explains, “Rice and Anderson worked well to move midfielders. Also, the position of the wide players was very important. Madueke and Gordon stayed very wide, and that stretched the game, meaning defenders and goalkeeper, Pickford, could play long to them. They are so quick and will fancy themselves in the 1v1, so if the centre-back comes with Kane, then Jude Bellingham becomes a problem for the defenders, and he is very intelligent. Kane recognised where to go and when to go. It was clear they had worked on it. His timing is great, but crucially, he is technically capable of playing this role.”

In clips 1 and 2, we see different examples of England’s low build-up, and the positioning and movements by other players that open the space for Kane to drop in.   

Dropping into pockets of space to receive the ball is a trademark of Kane’s centre-forward play, for club and country. His technical ability to play with his back to goal and bring others into the game causes real problems for opposition defenders because he is too good on the ball to leave him without pressure. As Wanchope explains, “Kane is also excellent at linking the play. He can play wide with his first touch with quality and if the centre-back comes with him, Bellingham will expose that space.”

As a centre-forward, Harry Kane brings a unique dimension to the teams he plays for, due to his technical ability on the ball and game intelligence. Not only is he a prolific goalscorer, but he can act as a playmaker in deeper parts of the pitch or the link player in the spaces between the lines. His versatility makes him difficult to predict and demands critical decision-making from centre-backs tasked with marking him.