England mastered its last test before the 2026 World Cup without any problems and gained self-confidence for the opener against Croatia with a clear 3-0 (1-0) win against Costa Rica.
Arsenal star Declan Rice gave the Three Lions an early lead after nine minutes with a slightly deflected shot in Orlando, Florida. Coach Thomas Tuchel’s team had further good chances through captain Harry Kane (23rd minute) and Noni Madueke (36th) until the break, but the overdue 2-0 only fell after 68 minutes thanks to a converted hand penalty by Anthony Gordon. Ollie Watkins headed the final score shortly before the end after a deflected shot (87′).
The result may have brought relief to the co-favorite for the World Cup title. At least the most recent test match results could be improved: England couldn’t get more than a 1-1 draw against Uruguay and suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Japan. Even in the rather boring performance against New Zealand (1-0) last Saturday, Kane and Co. were not yet in top form.
Thunderstorm causes delayed kick-off
Against Costa Rica, who had not qualified for the World Cup, England showed a confident performance from the start. Even a weather-related delay – the game kicked off an hour late due to a violent thunderstorm with lightning strikes near the stadium – the “Three Lions” did not allow themselves to be deterred and were overwhelmingly superior throughout the entire game.
The only drawback was the exploitation of opportunities. Although England impressed with their offensive enthusiasm, the missed big opportunities, such as those from Bayern Munich’s Kane, who was in the starting line-up as usual and was substituted after 63 minutes, should not be forgiven so easily at the start of the tournament.
England starts with a bang against Croatia
Because on June 17th (10 p.m. CEST), a real benchmark awaits Tuchel’s team in the opening game in Dallas with Croatia, who changed his entire starting eleven against Costa Rica during the game. This will be followed in Group L by the games against Ghana (June 23rd/10 p.m. CEST) and the blatant outsiders Panama (June 27th/11 p.m. CEST).