England hasn’t won a World Cup crown in 60 years, and they could end that drought in the most ironic of places with the tournament in North America this year.
Ranked fourth in the world, England came into the tournament with high expectations, and the pressure showed initially against No. 14 Croatia. That said, Croatia fielded the third-place team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Despite an up-and-down start, England turned things around and bested Croatia 4–2 in Group L play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. England scored twice in the second half of the match to pull away in what had been a back-and-forth contest before halftime.
“I think we showed a bit of nerves,” England head coach Thomas Tuchel told reporters afterward.
“Maybe we wanted to … overdo it, but we clearly overthought our decisions. It took us too long to take decisions.
“When we could play short, we played long. When we could have played long, we played short.”
Harry Kane got the scoring started for England with a penalty kick on a second try 11 minutes into the match, but Croatia answered late in the first half in the 35th minute with Martin Baturina scoring. Kane struck again in the 41st minute on a pinpoint header, and Croatia simply answered again. Petar Musa scored in the 49th minute, four minutes into running time, for a 2–2 score.
“We couldn’t find a real rhythm in our game and even in defending it took us too long to make decisions to go as a block into the high press,” Tuchel said. “We spend way too much time in a low block, which is also not our identity and not what we wanted to have.”
Jude Bellingham put England back in front, 3–2, early in the second half, during the 46th minute. Marcus Rashford then made it 4–2 in the 84th minute as England sealed the match.
“Credit to the manager. The manager gave us a speech at halftime, just to say if we lose, we lose, but we lose in our way,” Kane told ITV afterward.
“You saw that the way we came out in the second half, we came out full gas.
“They couldn’t live with it, and that’s the level we have to set every game. Credit to everyone. The first game of the tournament. A great result against a tough side.”
Tuchel acknowledged the pressure his team felt in the first half. That’s also despite never trailing, as Croatia came from behind to tie twice.
“I had more [of] the impression we have to protect something now, got punished for it, which is psychologically not easy, but I loved the reaction after halftime,” Tuchel said. “We encouraged them to go for it, to play with more courage, to be brave, to be ourselves and, like I said, I loved the reaction.”
Bellingham, who put his team ahead to stay, spread around the credit regarding his goal. It took the British significant work to set up Bellingham for the go-ahead score.
“I don’t remember all 23 (passes before the goal),” Bellingham told ITV.
“I remember Elliot’s was brilliant, Noni was trying to take it off my toe but no chance. The work that goes into creating that sort of play is obviously one that takes us weeks to get right.
“Credit to the manager and his staff, they’ve put us in the right place to take those chances. My responsibility to the team and my country is to give everything I have when I cross the line and wear that badge on my front. I want to give everything I can. It’s been a long season for me; I’ve missed more camps than I'd like.”
