Welcome to FourFourTwo’s live coverage of England versus Croatia, the Three Lions’ opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup!

Final score: England 4-2 Croatia

Harry Kane opened the scoring for England from the penalty spot, though he had to retake it after encroachment.

Martin Baturina equalised for Croatia with a stunning strike into the top corner.

Kane restored England’s advantage with a header from a corner.

Petar Musa then levelled again for Croatia.

Jude Bellingham put England back in front with a powerful drive past Dominik Livakovic.

Marcus Rashford sealed the result with a composed finish for England’s fourth goal.

The match is taking place at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where Thomas Tuchel’s England face the 2022 semi-finalists in Group L.

England’s preparations were disrupted when Tino Livramento suffered an injury yesterday, prompting a last-minute call-up for Trevoh Chalobah. This came after the team had some of their equipment stolen earlier in the week.

Despite the setbacks, England hoped to channel the spirit of Pickles from 1966 and turn adversity into motivation.

Earlier in the day, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal were set to face DR Congo at 6 pm.

This evening provided England an opportunity for redemption against Luka Modric and his team, whom they have beaten in both the Nations League and the European Championship in recent years.

Historical meetings between the two sides:

24 April 1996 – England 0-0 Croatia (Friendly)

20 August 2003 – England 3-1 Croatia (Friendly)

21 June 2004 – Croatia 2-4 England (Euro 2004)

11 October 2006 – Croatia 2-0 England (Euro 2008 qualifiers)

21 November 2007 – England 2-3 Croatia (Euro 2008 qualifiers)

10 September 2008 – Croatia 1-4 England (World Cup 2010 qualifiers)

9 September 2009 – England 5-1 Croatia (World Cup 2010 qualifiers)

11 July 2018 – Croatia 2-1 England (World Cup 2018)

12 October 2018 – Croatia 0-0 England (Nations League)

18 November 2018 – England 2-1 Croatia (Nations League)

13 June 2021 – England 1-0 Croatia (Euro 2020)

Back in 2018, Harry Kane claimed the Golden Boot in Russia. To commemorate that, FIFA presented him with an embroidered patch on his England shirt sleeve for this World Cup. A nice touch indeed.

Jude Bellingham started for England, while James and O’Reilly took the full-back roles, and Gordon started ahead of Rashford.

“Both of them deserve to start,” said Thomas Tuchel regarding Bellingham and Rogers.

Croatia’s starting XI: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Sutalo, Luka Vuskovic, Josko Gvardiol; Josip Stanisic, Luka Modric, Petar Sucic, Ivan Perisic; Martin Baturina, Petar Musa, Mario Pasalic.

This marks Bellingham’s second World Cup and third major tournament with England. Remarkably, he is still only 22. If he continues playing for his country as long as Lionel Messi has, he could feature in the 2042 World Cup—making it six tournaments for the Three Lions. Incredible.

The match kicked off with Croatia pressing early. They earned the first corner but failed to capitalise. England responded with a corner of their own—Madueke found Reece James, whose cross was met by Kane, only for his effort to deflect wide.

Penalty for England! Declan Rice’s corner was cleared to Madueke, who was fouled by Luka Modric. Kane stepped up and converted after retaking due to Gvardiol’s encroachment. He made no mistake the second time.

Croatia appealed for a penalty shortly after when Reece James tangled with Petar Musa, but the referee deemed there wasn’t enough contact.

England began to settle, enjoying more possession with Bellingham driving forward, though without end product. Croatia slowly regained control, with Kane briefly misplacing a pass as the 2022 semi-finalists built momentum after the water break.

Madueke sent in a dangerous cross and Bellingham came agonisingly close to doubling the lead. England looked threatening with overlapping runs and crosses from both flanks.

Then, Martin Baturina unleashed a thunderous strike from 25 yards into the top corner to bring Croatia level. A brilliant goal.

Moments later, Kane restored England’s lead with a header from a corner. The set-piece threat was evident, with Rice and Saka taking corners and Reece James posing from free-kicks. England’s aerial power—through Konsa, Burn and O’Reilly—was proving crucial.

Early in the second half, Musa equalised again. England responded with intensity—Bellingham drove an effort at Livakovic, who saved well. The Real Madrid star urged the crowd to lift the team.

Tuchel’s half-time talk seemed to have fired up the players. O’Reilly missed a free header, then had another saved by Livakovic, with Gordon’s follow-up also denied. England dominated possession and attacking play.

Kane forced multiple saves from Livakovic in quick succession, the Croatian goalkeeper performing heroics to keep his side in the contest.

Substitutions: Modric was replaced by Kovacic in the 57th minute. Later, Vuskovic and Musa made way for Marko Pasalic and Matonovic. For England, Madueke, Rice and Gordon came off for Saka, Rogers and Rashford.

Pickford produced a vital stop to deny Pasalic at 75 minutes, preserving England’s 3-2 advantage. The statistics told the story: England’s xG stood at 2.68 compared to Croatia’s 0.38.

England 4-2 Croatia – Rashford struck late to secure victory with a composed finish. Kane then blocked a shot in his own box before launching a counter with Saka and Rashford that nearly resulted in a fifth goal. The substitutes made a huge impact.

Harry Kane described it as “a game of two halves,” revealing that Tuchel’s half-time team talk emphasised, “If we’re going to lose, lose how we play.”

England’s second-half display was far more assertive, with visible competition for places driving performance. The team’s proactive approach was a refreshing change from the conservatism of previous regimes.

Dominik Livakovic was outstanding despite conceding four goals, making several crucial saves to keep Croatia in touch.

At half-time, assistant coach Anthony Barry spoke to ITV. Gary Neville later admitted he initially thought Barry’s input might have been “vanilla,” but after seeing England’s response, he added, “He was absolutely fuming. It told us a lot. Those would have been forceful words at half-time.”

That’s all for tonight. Thanks for following along. England are off to a flying start—football might just be coming home again.