England are off and running at the 2026 World Cup, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on target in their 4-2 victory over Croatia.
The Three Lions made a winning start to the tournament in their Group L opener, turning a nervy first-half performance into a positive second-half attacking display.
England were twice pegged back during the opening 45 minutes, with Kane’s brace cancelled out by Martin Baturina and Petar Musa.
But with Thomas Tuchel’s words ringing in their ears after the break, the Three Lions got back in front almost straightaway through Bellingham, before substitute Marcus Rashford added a fourth goal to settle nerves later on.
In this article, we’ll cover:
A game of two halves
The bottom line is England have made a winning start at the World Cup. The challenge now will be to produce high-level performances over 90 minutes.
Despite twice leading through Kane, those two goals represented the Three Lions’ only attempts on target during the first half, with assistant coach Anthony Barry expressing his and Tuchel’s frustration during a half-time interview.
The same could probably be said for at the other end of the field. England have gone through their qualifying campaign without conceding a goal, but with respect to the opponents they faced, it was always going to be more difficult doing that against tougher nations.
Eyebrows were raised by the decision not to start Marc Guehi – a regular during qualifying and their star performer at Euro 2024 – and the defence looked a little shaky during the first half. They were twice unlocked by lovely play from Croatia, with the experienced Ivan Perisic taking advantage to run in behind and provide the assist for their second goal.
However, whatever Tuchel and Barry said to the players at half-time clearly had the desired effect. Two shots on target during the opening 45 minutes increased to 11 after the break, while they also looked a lot more solid defensively.
What, on paper, appears to be their toughest Group L assignment is out of the way with three points on the board, so the Three Lions have a good platform to build on. The only thing that will stop them doing that is themselves.
Captain Kane delivers again
No player has scored more World Cup goals for England than Kane, who equalled Gary Lineker’s record by moving into double figures.
He also equalled the records of Billy Wright and David Beckham, by respectively captaining and scoring for the Three Lions at three different World Cups.
Moving joint-third with Beckham on England’s all-time list by earning his 115th cap, Kane marked his 30th major tournament appearance by taking his goal tally to 17 – with only Cristiano Ronaldo (22), Miroslav Klose (19) and Gerd Muller (18) netting more among European players.
The forward, who was initially denied by Livakovic, took his second penalty with aplomb, before firmly planting home a header for his second goal – marking the second World Cup at which he has marked the opening game with a brace.
Having taken until the round of 16 to open his account in Qatar, there have been no such delays this time around, and the skipper will look to kick on from this performance – which also saw him register a game-high seven shots and nine touches in the opposing box.
Jude’s selection justified
Most of the build-up centred around who would start England’s campaign in the number 10 position, with Tuchel having largely opted for Morgan Rogers throughout qualifying.
However, Bellingham got the nod and, at 22 years and 353 days, became the youngest European player to appear at four major tournaments.
The Real Madrid midfielder has a point to prove following a disappointing Euro 2024, at which he largely failed to live up to his pre-tournament expectations.
There was certainly plenty of purpose about his performance. He constantly looked for the ball and embarked on some of his trademark runs – one of which culminated in him scoring what proved to be the winning goal.
Bellingham also won the most tackles (three) of any England player, while only Elliot Anderson (six) won more duels (five) during an all-action display – one which he must continue to produce consistently throughout this tournament.
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