12′Harry Kane
42′Harry Kane
47′Jude Bellingham
85′Marcus Rashford
Martin Baturina36′
Petar Musa45’+5′
World Cup 2026
England have made an excellent start to the World Cup. National coach Thomas Tuchel’s team won 4-2 against Croatia on Wednesday evening in Dallas, which made a big impression with a second and third place at the last two World Cups.
England captain and star player Harry Kane started his World Cup with two goals. He was already the seventh player to score twice in his first game at this World Cup. Together with Erling Haaland (Norway), Kylian Mbappé (France), Yasin Ayari (Sweden), Kai Havertz (Germany), Elijah Just (New Zealand) and Folarin Balogun (United States), he is one goal behind Lionel Messi, who started his World Cup last night with a hat trick for Argentina against Algeria.
Kane scored in the first half with a striking penalty and a beautiful header after a Declan Rice corner. Kane first saw his penalty saved by Dominik Livakovic, but the Croatian goalkeeper came off his line just too early and so Kane got a second chance. He was successful and he set a record with five penalties used at the World Cup. Before the match, Kane shared the record of four penalties with former Dutch international Rob Rensenbrink (all at the 1978 World Cup), the Argentinians Gabriel Batistuta, Lionel Messi and the Portuguese football legend Eusébio.
Kane gave England the lead twice in the first half, but Croatia once again proved to be a tough opponent with two equalizers. In the 36th minute, Mario Baturina (attacking midfielder at Como) scored beautifully and shortly before half time, striker Petar Musa made it 2-2, after a beautiful assist from PSV veteran Ivan Perisic (37) with a smart header after a good running action. Musa was in familiar territory, as he is a striker for FC Dallas in the MLS.
The teams went to rest at a 2-2 score, but in the first minute of the second half, star Jude Bellingham put England at 3-2. Marcus Rashford came on for Anthony Gordon in the 72nd minute and made it a safe 4-2 for England in the 85th minute after a quick counter-attack after Croatia were chasing the 3-3.
England won 4-2 against Croatia 22 years ago, in the third group match of the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. Then 18-year-old Wayne Rooney (two goals), Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes were the scorers in Lisbon.
Croatia finished third at the 2022 World Cup and lost 4-2 to France in the final of the 2018 World Cup, after beating England 2-1 in the semi-final in Moscow after extra time. The English qualified for this World Cup with a perfect score of eight victories.
Kane tied with Beckham
Kane played his 115th cap for England against Croatia, leveling with David Beckham. The born Londoners are also the only two Englishmen with goals at three different World Cups. Kane is only ahead of Peter Shilton (125 international matches) and Wayne Rooney (120 international matches) when it comes to international matches. In terms of goals, he has already surpassed Rooney (53 goals) for a while. Kane now has 81 goals in the national team. The 32-year-old striker came into the World Cup with confidence after a sensational season at Bayern Munich, where he scored 61 goals in 51 games.
England and Croatia are in group L with Panama and Ghana. Those countries meet at 1 a.m. in Toronto.
liveblog
End of second half
England starts the World Cup with a 4-2 win and Harry Kane with two goals.
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Six minutes of extra time
Six more minutes are added in Dallas, but the tension is gone after Marcus Rashford’s 4-2. England will start the World Cup with a more than deserved victory.
John Stones is replaced by Marc Guéhi
Harry Kane player with the most accurate penalties at the World Cup
Harry Kane set a record in this match. He took advantage of a penalty early in the game. That was his fifth in regular time at a World Cup and he is now the leader in that ranking.
Before the match against Croatia, Kane shared the record of four penalty kicks with former Dutch international Rob Rensenbrink, the Argentinians Gabriel Batistuta and Lionel Messi and the Portuguese Eusébio.
Rensenbrink scored twice against Iran, once against Scotland and once against Austria from a penalty at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
4-2 England! Goal by Marcus Rashford!
There is the 4-2 for England and that is more than deserved. After a quick counter-attack, substitute Marcus Rashford heads out Croatian right back Josip Stanisic and leaves goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic without a chance by coolly placing the ball in the corner.
Another late equalizer in Dallas?
The final phase has now really arrived in Dallas, where the Croatians are hunting for the 3-3. Will we get a late equalizer in the AT&T Stadium, just like last Sunday when the Netherlands – Japan played Japan? Then Daicha Kamada made it 2-2 on behalf of Japan in the 89th minute.
Kane tied with Beckham
Harry Kane will play his 115th international match for England tonight, drawing level with former captain David Beckham. They are also the only players to have scored for England at three World Cups.
1. Peter Shilton – 125 caps
2. Wayne Rooney – 120 caps
3. Harry Kane – 115 caps
4. David Beckham – 115 caps
5. Steven Gerrard – 114 caps
6. Bobby Moore – 108 caps
7. Ashley Cole – 107 caps
8. Bobby Charlton – 106 caps
9. Frank Lampard – 106 caps
10. Billy Wright – 105 caps
Jude Bellingham is replaced by Djed Spence
Mario Pašalic is replaced by Andrej Kramaric
Martin Baturina is replaced by Nikola Vlašic
England is in control
England are in control, but it is still 3-2 due to the missed chances of the English. Can Will Croatia score a third equalizer in the final stages of this spectacular match?
Noni Madueke is replaced by Bukayo Saka
Anthony Gordon is replaced by Marcus Rashford
There are the three substitutions for England, where Thomas Tuchel certainly does not choose to play more defensively to get the 3-2 lead across the line.
Anthony Gordon is replaced by Marcus Rashford, a change that we may also see at FC Barcelona next season. Barcelona would love to take over Rashford permanently from Manchester United, but will have to pay a significant amount for this this summer.
Declan Rice is replaced by Morgan Rogers
Drink break
Time for the second drinks break of this match. Thomas Tuchel looks set to make three substitutions. Bukayo Saka is ready to fill in for his Arsenal teammate Noni Madueke.
Meanwhile the stadium DJ plays at the loudest volume ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers goes through the stadium, to the delight of the tens of thousands of English fans in the stands in Dallas.
Petar Musa is replaced by Igor Matanovic
Petar Musa, the Croatian striker who made it 2-2 just before half time after a nice assist from Ivan Perisic, was taken off halfway through the second half.
It was a special match for the 28-year-old striker, because he has been playing for FC Dallas since 2024. The 1.90 meter tall striker has 48 goals after 80 matches. This season he is on a roll with 12 goals in 13 matches.
Luka Vskovic is replaced by Marco Pašalic
Luka Modric is replaced by Mateo Kovacic
For the 40-year-old Croatian captain Luka Modric, his 199th international match has come to an end. Mateo Kovacic (32), who played only nine games (242 minutes) for Manchester City last season, comes on for him.
Modric will play his 200th international match next Wednesday (1 a.m.). Playing Croatia against Panama.
Panama will first play against Ghana at 1 a.m. in the other match in this group L of the World Cup. Group L is the last group at this World Cup, but we will undoubtedly have a group Z in the future.
England chasing the 4-2
Another double chance for England, but again Dominik Livakovic can prevent that. Update the shop Croatia.
Almost 4-2 for England
Ten minutes after half-time, England almost took a 4-2 lead after a corner kick, but Croatia can barely avoid that. Dominik Livakovic first saves Nico O’Reilly’s header and then also saves the rebound from Anthony Gordon, the England striker who has switched from Newcastle United to FC Barcelona.