England kicked off their World Cup campaign in style with a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas. 

The match came to life in the 8th minute, when Croatia stalwart Luka Modric caught Noni Madueke high with his foot, the referee having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. England Skipper Harry Kane had initial effort saved from Croatian stopper Dominik Livakovic, before VAR intervened and ordered the penalty be re-taken due to Livakovic being off his goal line. Kane made no mistake the second time round, slotting the retake away to put England ahead after 12 minutes. 

England continued to remain in control for the majority of the first half , but Croatia would level the contest with 9 minutes remaining, as Como’s Martin Bautarina unleashed a powerful strike from the edge of the edges of the penalty area into the top corner of the net, despite a touch from England shot stopper Jordan Pickford. 

It was Harry Kane to the rescue for England again 3 minutes from the end of the first half , with a header meeting Declan Rice’s corner seeing England go back into the lead, a 10th World Cup goal for Kane. Despite this , England’s defensive frailties showed once again, as Croatia would draw level with the last kick off the first half, as former Ivan Perisic’s header found the foot of Forward Petar Musa, seeing the sides go into the break level. 

England came out from the second half resurgent, and it didn’t take them long to reclaim the lead once again, with Jude Bellingham making a quick break down the right hand side, slotting his shot into the bottom left corner two minutes after the restart.

England would remain dominant throughout the second half, with chances from both Declan Rice and debutant Nico O’Reilly being kept out by the acrobatic efforts of Livakovic. The three lions would get what they deserved 5 minutes from time, with Bukayo Saka finding Marcus Rashford in space, as the Mancunian Winger put his effort into the back of the net sealing the victory. 

England will travel to Boston for their next game against Ghana looking to secure their place in the round of 32.