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Matchday Pundit

The game, the passion, the argument

WORLD CUP 2026  •  GROUP L  •  MATCH REACTION

Wednesday June 17, 2026 • Group L • AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

England won. Kane equalled Gary Lineker’s record of 10 World Cup goals for England. Bellingham produced his finest international performance. And Croatia scored twice because England’s defensive shape was a mess for an hour. Three points are in the bank. The problems are real and they need fixing before a better team arrives.

By The Matchday PunditWednesday June 17, 2026  •  World Cup Day 7

England vs Croatia

Group L • AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas • June 17, 2026

4–2

England: Kane pen. (12′), Kane header (42′), Bellingham (47′), Rashford (85′)  ||  Croatia: Baturina (36′), Musa (45+5′)

10Kane WC Goals (Equals Lineker)

60Years Since England Won WC

1966England’s Only World Cup

Eight years ago in Moscow, Croatia beat England 2-1 in extra time in the 2018 World Cup semi-final. Mario Mandzukic scored the winner 109 minutes into the game. England led through Kieran Trippier’s fifth-minute free kick, Perisic equalised on 68 minutes, and then in extra time Croatia finished the job and ended England’s most exciting World Cup campaign in decades. It was devastating. And last night in Dallas, at AT&T Stadium in front of a packed house that was overwhelmingly English in its noise and its colours, Thomas Tuchel’s side got their revenge in the most chaotic, breathless, entertaining way imaginable. They won 4-2. They scored four goals. They conceded two. Harry Kane scored twice and equalled Gary Lineker’s record. Jude Bellingham scored one of the individual goals of this tournament. Marcus Rashford came off the bench and sealed it. England are up and running at the 2026 World Cup. But if Tuchel is an honest man, and I believe he is, he will not have enjoyed large portions of what he watched from his technical area.

Six Goals in the First Half and a Half. Where Do I Begin.

England started the match in a 4-2-3-1 with Jordan Pickford in goal, a back four of Reece James, John Stones, Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly, a double pivot of Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, and Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon across the attacking midfield behind Harry Kane. Bukayo Saka, who has been managing an Achilles issue, was named on the bench. Croatia lined up in a 4-3-2-1 with Dominik Livakovic in goal, a back four of Josip Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Luka Vuskovic and Josko Gvardiol, a midfield three of Luka Modric, Mario Pasalic and Petar Sucic of Inter Milan, with Martin Baturina and Ivan Perisic supporting Petar Musa as the central striker. Modric, 40 years old and now playing his club football for AC Milan after 13 extraordinary years at Real Madrid, started and immediately showed that the passage of time has done very little to diminish what he can produce with a football at his feet.

England won a penalty in the 12th minute. A Rice corner caused chaos in the Croatian box and the ball struck a Croatian arm. The referee pointed to the spot. Kane stepped up, struck it low to Livakovic’s left. The Croatian goalkeeper got down well and saved it. The crowd groaned. But VAR intervened to check Livakovic’s position on the line during the penalty, determined he had come off his line before the kick was taken, and ordered a retake. Kane stepped up again. He sent Livakovic the same way and this time the ball hit the back of the net. England 1-0. A clinical start, however unconventionally the goal was achieved.

England looked comfortable. Then Croatia reminded them that comfortable means nothing in a World Cup group game. In the 36th minute, England lost the ball in midfield, Croatia broke quickly, and Petar Sucic found Baturina arriving with momentum about 25 yards from goal. The Como midfielder, who is 23 years old and one of the most technically gifted young players in European football, did not hesitate. He struck a ferocious shot that flew past the outstretched hand of Declan Rice on its way to the top corner. Livakovic would not have saved it. Pickford had no chance. It was a stunning goal and it deserved the reception it received from the Croatian supporters inside AT&T Stadium. 1-1. England had been warned.

England responded. In the 42nd minute, Rice delivered a corner from the right that was perfect in its weight and placement. Kane arrived at the back post with a run that his marker completely missed, and powered a header into the bottom corner past Livakovic. 2-1 to England. Kane had scored twice and equalled Gary Lineker’s record of 10 England World Cup goals. In the stands, watching the game, sat Gary Lineker himself. The look on his face when Kane nodded home was the kind of moment that makes these tournaments what they are.

Harry Kane Equals Gary Lineker’s England World Cup Record: 10 Goals

Lineker scored 6 goals at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, winning the Golden Boot, and added 4 more at Italia 90. That record of 10 England World Cup goals stood for 36 years. Kane, who won the Golden Boot himself in 2018 in Russia with 6 goals, entered this tournament on 8 goals. His brace against Croatia took him to 10, level with Lineker, in what was his 14th World Cup appearance across three tournaments.

Kane told reporters after the match: “Gary was an incredible striker for England, and to achieve 10 World Cup goals is impressive. Personal milestones are, of course, a motivator. As a striker I always want to score every time I step onto the pitch, and those milestones are always nice things to achieve. But the ultimate motivation is playing with the boys and winning matches.” The record is his alone if he scores again.

Then, in a moment that defined the entire first half, Croatia equalised again. Perisic, 37 years old and playing his club football for PSV Eindhoven, still moving like someone ten years younger, flicked a ball over the top of the England defence with the outside of his boot. The ball dropped perfectly for Petar Musa at the back post, who side-footed it first time through Jordan Pickford’s legs. England’s defensive organisation had completely broken down. Perisic had beaten the offside trap. Nobody had tracked him. The ball went through the goalkeeper’s legs. Croatia had stolen a draw right on the stroke of half-time. Thomas Tuchel on the touchline looked exactly as you would expect a man to look when his team has just thrown away a lead for the second time in 10 minutes. Not angry. Calculating. Already planning.

“Baturina hit it from 25 yards and it flew past Rice into the top corner. Stunning. That was the moment Croatia told England that this game would not be handed to them.”

Bellingham Wins It. The Second Half.

England came out for the second half knowing they needed something immediate. They got it within two minutes of the restart. Elliot Anderson, the Nottingham Forest midfielder whose energy and directness was one of England’s most consistent features all evening, played a ball in behind the Croatian defence to Bellingham, who was moving at pace down the right side. He took one touch to push the ball forward past Mario Pasalic, who tried to use his body to slow him down, and then with his next touch struck the ball across goal toward the far post. It went in off the inside of the post. The stadium erupted. England 3-2. It was the kind of goal that only a player of Bellingham’s quality and confidence can score, driving at a defender, accepting the contact, and still producing an outcome of extraordinary precision. I have watched it twice since the game ended and it gets better each time.

The second half after Bellingham’s goal settled into a pattern. England controlled without dominating, Croatia pressed without threatening a genuine equaliser. Livakovic made three excellent saves to deny O’Reilly, Gordon and Konsa from close range after a series of corners in the 55th to 57th minute period, a passage of play that showed both England’s set-piece ambition and Croatia’s goalkeeper at his considerable best. Croatia brought on Nikola Vlasic and Andrej Kramaric in the 78th minute as Dalic pushed for a way back. They did not find one.

Tuchel made his decisive changes in the 72nd minute, bringing on Bukayo Saka for Madueke, Morgan Rogers for Rice and Marcus Rashford for Anthony Gordon. The introductions changed the texture of the game. Saka, fresh and direct, immediately began finding pockets and driving at the Croatian defence. And in the 85th minute, Saka found Rashford with a well-weighted ball. Rashford, the Manchester United forward, cut onto his right foot and slotted it past Livakovic into the bottom right corner. 4-2. The game was over. England had won. The three points were secure.

Can England Win This Tournament?

I want to be honest about this because I think there is a real answer worth giving. England have more attacking talent than almost any other team in this World Cup. Kane at 32 years old is playing the best football of his career. He scored 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich across all competitions in 2025-26, winning the German treble, and he has brought that form into this tournament. Bellingham, Anderson, Saka, Rashford, Gordon, Madueke. The attacking options are extraordinary in their depth and quality. If England’s front players perform at their ceiling, very few teams in this tournament can live with them.

But last night showed me two things that worry me. The first is the defensive shape. England conceded two goals against a Croatia side that is good but not elite by the standards of this tournament. Both goals came from breakdowns in organisation rather than moments of brilliance by the Croatian attackers. The second is the midfield. Rice and Anderson were solid but there were long stretches in the second half where England’s control was not convincing. When a France or an Argentina gets into those spaces, the consequences could be considerably more severe than two goals from Croatia.

Tuchel knows this. He has spoken throughout his England tenure about defensive discipline and organisation being the foundation everything is built on. Last night it was not good enough and he will address it directly before England’s next game against Ghana in Group L. England have 60 years of hurt. This squad has the quality to end it. But they need to be better than they were for stretches of last night to do so.

The Final Word

England 4-2 Croatia. Three points from three available. Kane equalling Lineker’s record. Bellingham scoring arguably the goal of his international career. Rashford reminding everyone what he brings as a finisher off the bench. And a result that avenges, in the most direct possible way, the 2018 semi-final defeat that has sat in the back of England fans’ minds for eight years.

But this was not a performance that can carry England to a World Cup. It was a performance with magnificent moments embedded inside genuine defensive fragility, and the next opponents will be studying those fragilities with considerable interest. Three points from the opening game of a World Cup is the right result. How you got there matters too, and last night Thomas Tuchel got there with more drama than any England manager wants from their first game.

The work starts now. England have the players to go all the way. Whether they have the defensive shape to survive what is coming in the knockout rounds is the question that will follow them for the rest of this tournament.

Matchday Pundit