England and Croatia unveil lineups for Group 12 World Cup opener

England and Croatia met Wednesday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the first match of Group 12 at the World Cup. On paper, it is one of the biggest group-stage fixtures, featuring two star-studded teams that also met in the 2018 World Cup semifinal.

Thomas Tuchel’s England side was led by Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, with Nico O’Reilly starting at left back after his breakthrough at Manchester City. Tuchel spent a long time deciding who would play on the right wing and eventually chose Noni Madueke over Bukayo Saka, apparently because the Arsenal star is carrying a heavy workload.

Croatia, coached by Zlatko Dalic, again relied on Luka Modric, who is soon to turn 41 and started in his fifth World Cup tournament. Ivan Perisic also made the lineup, Petar Musa led the attack, and Josko Gvardiol anchored the defense.

The match had not yet started when the lineups were published. French referee Clement Turpin was assigned to officiate. England lined up in a 4-3-3, while Croatia used a 3-5-2. The group also includes Ghana and Panama, and the next matches are Ghana vs. Panama on June 18 in Toronto, England vs. Ghana on June 23 in Foxborough, Panama vs. Croatia on June 24 in Toronto, Panama vs. England on June 28 in New Jersey, and Croatia vs. Ghana on June 28 in Philadelphia.