Harry Kane scored twice while Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford added second-half goals as England survived a thrilling contest to defeat Croatia 4-2 on Wednesday and begin their World Cup campaign with a statement victory.
The Group L clash carried significant expectations due to the history between the two sides, particularly Croatia’s extra-time victory over England in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
The match at Dallas Stadium lived up to the hype, with Croatia twice drawing level before Bellingham restored England’s lead in the 47th minute and Rashford sealed the win with an 85th-minute strike.
Bellingham put England ahead when he surged down the right flank before guiding a low finish across goal, with the ball clipping the post on its way in. He celebrated with his trademark arms-outstretched pose.
Bukayo Saka later set up fellow substitute Rashford, who calmly slotted home to secure the victory.
“It’s my responsibility to the team and to my country to give everything I have when I cross the line and wear that badge on the front, wear that number 10 on the back,” Bellingham said.
Kane Equals Lineker’s Record
The 32-year-old Kane, who arrived at the World Cup after another outstanding season with Bayern Munich, opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 12th minute after Noni Madueke was fouled in the area by Croatia captain Luka Modric.
Although Dominik Livakovic saved Kane’s initial effort, the goalkeeper was ruled to have moved off his line early. Kane converted the retake, firing into the right corner.
Martin Baturina levelled for Croatia in the 36th minute with a powerful strike that Jordan Pickford got a hand to but could not keep out.
The goal ended England’s run of 10 consecutive competitive clean sheets.
Kane restored England’s lead in the 42nd minute, drawing level with Gary Lineker’s England World Cup scoring record of 10 goals.
Croatia failed to mark Kane at a corner, allowing the striker to head Declan Rice’s delivery into the bottom corner for his 81st international goal.
However, Croatia equalised again just before halftime when Ivan Perisic’s clever header set up Petar Musa, who finished calmly.
“I thought it was a game of two halves, really,” Kane said. “Credit to the manager. He gave us a speech at halftime and said, ‘Look, if we lose, we lose. We’re losing our way.’
“The way we came out in the second half, we went full gas. And they couldn’t live with it.”
Defensive Concerns Remain
Despite the victory, England’s defensive weaknesses were exposed as they conceded twice through avoidable mistakes.
Thomas Tuchel was visibly frustrated at halftime, but his team’s response after the break proved decisive.
“It wasn’t one of those where it was a big drama. He wasn’t standing up shouting,” Bellingham said of Tuchel’s halftime team talk.
“It was just what the team needed and, to be fair, we have a mature group. We have great leaders in there, and I think everyone knew the level we had to get to and why we weren’t hitting it.”
England entered the tournament as one of the favourites after a flawless qualifying campaign in which they did not concede a goal.
The win answered questions about England’s attacking quality against elite opposition, although concerns remain about their defensive organisation.
England will face Ghana in Boston on Tuesday before concluding their group-stage campaign against Panama on June 27.
Croatia will play Panama in Toronto on June 23 before taking on Ghana four days later in Philadelphia.
“We scored excellent goals, but unfortunately, we did not do very well, especially in defending set-pieces,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. “It’s a defeat and definitely not an easy one. But it’s okay. We have another two matches and we’ll try to correct it.”
