England despatch Croatia to win thrilling World Cup opener

Harry Kane scored twice as England defeated Croatia in their opening game at the 2026 World Cup.

The England captain opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Martin Baturina hit back. Kane then looked to have put England ahead at the break when he added his second in the 42nd minute, but Petar Musa brought Croatia level once again in first-half stoppage time.

England took control in the second half though and Jude Bellingham regained the lead in the 47th minute before Marcus Rashford added a fourth late on.

At times, England looked deserving of being spoken of as one of the main tournament contenders, but at others, particularly in the first half, they were not at their best. Thomas Tuchel will want to ensure that their defensive organisation improves ahead of their next group game against Ghana next Tuesday.

Croatia legend Luka Modric was at fault for England’s opener when he brought down Noni Madueke in the penalty area. Kane’s penalty was initially saved by Dominik Livakovic, but the goalkeeper was off his line and Josko Gvardiol had encroached. For the retake, Kane made no mistake to bury the ball past Livakovic.

Croatia responded though, when Baturina thumped a shot past Jordan Pickford, before Kane equalled Gary Lineker’s record of 10 World Cup goals for England when he headed in a Declan Rice corner.

Again though, the lead didn’t last long and Musa finished past Pickford from Ivan Perisic’s knock down.

Half time came at the right time for England and they scored their third two minutes after the restart through Jude Bellingham, who had been selected ahead of Morgan Rogers to support Kane.

Nico O’Reilly, Rice and Anthony Gordon all had great chances but Livakovic kept the score down with a series of saves.

But Rashford did add a fourth with five minutes to spare when he cut inside and found the far corner.

Cover Photo: “three lions. away.” by William Brawley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.