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England the entertainers lay down a World Cup marker
ENGLAND 4-2 CROATIA
f you like World Cups played at a fearsome pace, then 2026 looks like the one for you – and so it was that England were obliged to join the stampede of the big beasts. In Texas, they emerged as the latest gathering force, with Jude Bellingham to the fore.
Two goals from Harry Kane, a substitute’s flourish from Marcus Rashford, and before that – in the critical stage of the game with the score level – Bellingham for England’s third. This was the game’s pivotal goal, restoring England’s lead for the third and final time. Bellingham played more than one position, imperfect at times but when it came to the big moment, he seized it.
The worst days of England at tournaments you can feel coming in the first 10 minutes, and this was not one of those. Thomas Tuchel would later say that the first half was an example of much he had asked his England team not to do and then the second half was a reversal of it. Exacting standards from England’s favourite German but if he thinks conceding two goals against Croatia was an outrage, he should perhaps review England’s performances at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
This might have been less than ideal from the point of view of Tuchel and his assistant Anthony Barry, who gave a scathing assessment to television at half-time, but we English have all seen much, much worse.
Tuchel had picked the classic box midfield – a Unai Emery staple – with Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson at the base as the No 6s. At the top of the box were Kane and Bellingham as No 10s. Kane did not play as a conventional No 9. Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon made runs in behind. England built out from the back with short passes but once they had broken a line sought to get in behind Croatia as quickly as they could.
That asked much of Bellingham to be both the creator and the runner in behind, and when his goal came it was a case of the latter. Anticipating Anderson’s pass outside the full-back, he carried the ball for some distance, holding off the challenge of Mario Pasalic before dispatching his shot.
This period after half-time, in which Tuchel had promised his players that there would be no judgment on the result if they played as he asked, was the game’s most thrilling.
Before then it was more chaotic: four goals, a disputed penalty and leads taken and then squandered. England were playing the best non-seeded team in the competition and top-three finishers at the last two World Cups. Even this fading Croatia side has a ringcraft and so England had to work hard at it.
Tuchel’s players’ corner routines were outstanding. The details of which must have been fine-tuned over hours, most notably clearing a channel for Kane to head his second goal unchallenged on 42 minutes.
The same system of blocking and precise targeting of the ball from Rice yielded two free headers for Nico O’Reilly, neither of which could the full-back convert.
In the midfield the England manager switched and switched again in the second half.
First with Bellingham moving from No 10 to No 6, when Rice of all players indicated to Tuchel a problem with his back and thigh. A Rice injury is the nightmare scenario that stalks the squad, especially given the demands that Mikel Arteta has made of the Arsenal player this season. Tuchel said later that Rice had told him there was nothing seriously wrong, although the alarm in his manager’s voice at the prospect spoke volumes.
Bellingham took Rice’s place, after by a long conversation with Tuchel at the second-half hydration break. Then later when Bellingham was withdrawn Reece James moved up from full-back into midfield. These were big in-game moves. The fourth goal was made by two of the second-half substitutes – Bukayo Saka breaking on Croatia and finding Rashford for the finish.
It was when that pair came on with Morgan Rogers that Tuchel demonstrated the full power of the England bench. Croatia have great experience but the old maestro Luka Modric, 40, did not last the hour before he was replaced by Mateo Kovacic, himself 32. Playing at his fourth World Cup, it was an astute header from Ivan Perisic, 37, that created the second Croatia goal for Petar Musa. Croatia could not take the tempo up in the way that England did after half-time.
Tuchel would later complain about all facets of the first half, including “long balls when we should have played short; short when we should have played long”, and a defensive unit that did not press confidently. “Too many balls backwards” he said, identifying an old English affliction. Certainly England never looked as confident defending as they did attacking.
Kane had scored the first from the penalty spot after Modric had fouled Madueke, failing to spot that the winger was about to steal the ball as he swung at it. Kane’s first penalty was saved by Dominik Livakovic but the goalkeeper was judged to have left his line by VAR before the strike-point. There was not much in it. Given a second opportunity Kane chose the same side and Livakovic guessed wrong.
In that first half Kane would sometimes drop very deep and try to pick out Bellingham with a ball through the middle. For all Tuchel’s misgivings about the first-half performance Bellingham might have scored on 31 minutes when a good move set Madueke free for the cross from the right.
It was Bellingham who lost the ball for Croatia’s first goal on 36 minutes, Petar Sucic eventually setting it for a fine strike from Martin Baturina.
Kane’s header gave England the lead again. In the fifth minute of time added on at the end of the first half England threw it away again, this time it looked like James who had lost Musa.
Bellingham’s goal came soon after the break, and in the blitz that followed England should have scored more. After the second of O’Reilly’s headers, Gordon missed with the follow-up. There were two more chances in succession on 57 minutes when Kane might have completed his hat-trick. With the score at 3-2 there was a crucial save from Jordan Pickford from Pasalic. With Croatia stretched, a quick turnover set Saka free to make the goal for Rashford.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
