England launched its 2026 World Cup campaign on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Arlington, Texas, in what the report described as the best match of the tournament so far. Thomas Tuchel’s side played fast, attacking football in a high-quality opener to one of the group stage’s biggest fixtures.
Harry Kane scored twice to put England ahead on two occasions in the first half and became the national team’s all-time top scorer in World Cup tournaments. Croatia replied both times before halftime through Martin Baturina and Petar Musa, keeping the match level at 2-2 after 45 minutes.
England took control early in the second half when Jude Bellingham scored quickly, and Marcus Rashford sealed the result near the end with the fourth goal. The game featured constant end-to-end action and a high volume of chances, with England clearly the more dangerous side.
England finished with 21 chances compared with Croatia’s 8, and hit 11 shots on target. Croatia managed 5 shots on target, but goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic kept the score respectable with a standout performance. England had 7 shots in the first 15 minutes of the second half alone, 6 of them on target.
