England 4-2 Croatia Match Report: Kane Double Sinks Croatia in WC Thriller

by Movie Maniac - June 17, 2026

England defeated Croatia 4-2 in a thrilling Group L opening match at Dallas Stadium. [1]

Match Overview

The match proved to be a classic game of two halves. While England looked lethal going forward, their defense appeared shaky during a seesawing first half that saw Croatia equalize twice. However, a motivating half-time speech by new England manager Thomas Tuchel completely changed the momentum after the interval. England came out firing in the second half, overpowering the Croatian defense to secure all three points.

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Key Match Timeline

12' — England 1-0 Croatia (Harry Kane): After a foul on Noni Madueke, Harry Kane's initial penalty was saved by Dominik Livaković, but a VAR review ordered a retake because the goalkeeper stepped off his line. Kane made no mistake on his second attempt.
36' — England 1-1 Croatia (Martin Baturina): Luka Sučić cleverly bypassed John Stones and laid the ball off to Baturina, who curled a powerful strike past Jordan Pickford.
42' — England 2-1 Croatia (Harry Kane): Kane scored his second by meeting a dangerous outswinging corner from Declan Rice with a stooping header. The goal tied him with Gary Lineker as England's joint all-time leading World Cup goalscorer (10 goals).
45+5' — England 2-2 Croatia (Petar Musa): On the brink of half-time, Ivan Perišić cleverly nodded down a deep pass from Mario Pašalić to allow Petar Musa to volley home from close range.
47' — England 3-2 Croatia (Jude Bellingham): Just moments after the restart, Bellingham drove in aggressively from the wing and rifled a low shot across Livaković into the far corner.
85' — England 4-2 Croatia (Marcus Rashford): Late in the match, substitute Bukayo Saka spearheaded a counter-attack, feeding Rashford, who cut inside and composedly curled the ball home to seal the victory.