Gareth Southgate’s side showed spirit and character in abundance to down their old rivals and spark jubilant scenes with a 2-0 win at Wembley.
Celebrations continued long into the night across the country - and one of the man inside the England dressing room has given an insight into the final moments before the side ran out onto the pitch.
Pat Frost, the England kitman, took to social media to recall a 30-second rallying cry from Kane in a huge team huddle behind the scenes just moments before kick-off.
Whatever the Tottenham star said, it left Frost with no doubt England would not let the opportunity pass.
And his confidence proved well-placed as Sterling and Kane’s goals secured a historic win.
“So before we leave the dressing room for KO we have a massive huddle,” Frost wrote.
“The skipper spoke for about 30seconds and it was goosebumps.
“That’s when I knew we couldn’t lose tonight.”
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After the game, Kane soaked up the atmosphere and hailed an “amazing day” which will live long in the memory.
“It’s an amazing day, amazing game,” Kane told BBC Sport. "To hear Wembley like this was just a moment none of us will ever forget.
“Great performance, obviously 2-0, another clean sheet. Just the perfect afternoon. We’ll enjoy this one, but of course we know we’ve got another big one on Saturday now.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than this. Knockout game against a big nation, at home.
“All the pressure is on, all the expectation and we delivered so we should be proud of that.
“But like I said, the bottom line is we don’t want to stop here. We’ve got a vision of where we want to go as a team, as a group of players, as a coaching staff so we’re not done yet.
“Loved it, loved every second of it and hopefully we’ll be back here for the semi-finals and final.”
Manager Gareth Southgate added: “I just thought it was a brilliant afternoon.
“We’ve talked about bringing enjoyment to the nation and afternoons like this is what that’s about. The players were absolutely immense, right the way through the team and the fans were as well.
“It was only 40,000, but it was as good an atmosphere at Wembley that I can remember. We played extremely well and I think we deserved the win.
“But if we don’t go and capitalise on that on Saturday now, then it doesn’t count for anything.”
