England were twice pegged back by Croatia, but goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford gave them a winning start at the World Cup.
England delivered a statement of their World Cup intentions as a much-improved second-half display earned a 4-2 win over Croatia in an entertaining Group L clash.
The Three Lions were twice pegged back in the first half after Harry Kane‘s brace, but goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford after the break sealed a hard-fought win.
Despite a shaky start at Dallas Stadium, England were awarded a penalty in the ninth minute when Noni Madueke went down under the challenge of Luka Modric as the veteran midfielder attempted to hook the ball clear.
Kane stepped up but saw his stuttering spot-kick saved by Dominik Livakovic, though the penalty had to be retaken after a combination of encroachment from Josko Gvardiol and the Croatia goalkeeper being off his line, and the England captain made no mistake at the second attempt.
But a bolt from Croatian blue hauled Zlatko Dalic’s side level nine minutes before the break, with Martin Baturina brilliantly curling Petar Sucic‘s cutback into the top-left corner despite the best efforts of Jordan Pickford.
However, England retook the lead six minutes later when an unmarked Kane rose highest to plant Declan Rice‘s corner home, only for Croatia to level in first-half stoppage time after Petar Musaa volleyed Ivan Perisic‘s cleverly headed knockdown into the net.
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The game continued to deliver, and just 85 seconds after the restart, England got themselves in front for a third time through Bellingham, who raced on to Elliot Anderson’s sweeping pass down the right before firing in off the left post.
England almost pulled further clear soon after, but a remarkable triple save from Livakovic denied Nico O’Reilly, Anthony Gordon and Ezri Konsa before he sprung back to his feet to thwart Kane twice in quick succession soon after.
Despite some late Croatia pressure, England got their fourth five minutes from time when substitutes Bukayo Saka and Rashford combined, with the latter cutting inside of Josip Stanisic before stroking the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Kane and Bellingham England’s Men for the Big Moments
Having seen Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland open their World Cup accounts ahead of kick-off, it seemed inevitable that Kane, fresh from a sensational season with Bayern Munich, would want to make his mark, and he certainly did that.
His brace saw him equal Gary Lineker’s record for the most goals by an England player at the World Cup (10), while Kane is also just the second player to score for the Three Lions at three different World Cup tournaments (2018, 2022, 2026), along with David Beckham in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
But after conceding as many first-half goals in this game as they had in the first halves of their previous 21 matches combined (all competitions), England hit back through Bellingham, who marked his 16th major tournament appearance, the most of any European player in history before turning 23, with a bang.
Four of Bellingham’s seven England goals have been scored in major tournaments, the highest ratio ever of any player to score at least five times for the Three Lions (57%), though he did not forget about his defensive responsibilities. He won more tackles (three) than any other England player.
Thomas Tuchel elected to make a series of interesting alterations in the second half, with Rice and Bellingham replaced, but one of those, in Rashford, made an impact off the bench. He has now scored four substitute goals for England. Only Jermain Defoe (seven), Kane and Peter Crouch (both five) have more.
Overall, England will be thrilled at overcoming adversity and, ultimately, making a promising start to their campaign. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.8 from their 22 shots to Croatia’s 0.71 from 10 attempts.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the England vs Croatia stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group L meeting in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
England vs Croatia: Post-Match Opta Facts
This was England’s first FIFA World Cup win against a side ranked inside of FIFA’s top 15 in the rankings (Croatia 11th) since 2002 vs Argentina (3rd), ending a nine-game winless run (D2 L7) and six-game losing run against such sides at the finals.
This was only the eighth World Cup match in history to see both sides score twice before half-time, and just the second in the 21st century, after Serbia vs Switzerland in 2022. It was just the second of those eight involving England (also vs Argentina in 1998).
Harry Kane became just the second England player to score at three separate World Cup tournaments (2018, 2022, 2026), along with David Beckham (1998, 2002, 2006). He also equalled Gary Lineker with 10 goals overall at the finals, the joint-most of any England players.
England’s Harry Kane has scored more penalties (excl. shootouts) than any player in FIFA World Cup history (5).
Luka Modric became just the second European player to make an appearance at 10 different major tournaments (World Cups/European Championships), along with Cristiano Ronaldo (12). He’s played at all but one World Cup/Euro tournament since 2006, with Croatia failing to quality for the 2010 World Cup.
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