Two goals by Harry Kane, one by Jude Bellingham, and another by Marcus Rashford in the closing minutes broke the resistance of a commendable Croatian team that had twice come back from behind but ultimately fell victim to its own mistakes against an English squad that has solidified its status as a title contender.
There can be no script for England-Croatia matches, which—ever since that 2018 semifinal—have been a back-and-forth spectacle in which the unexpected always trumps tactics.
A mistake by Modric turned the game around
Because it’s unexpected that the most experienced person would make the first major mistake.
The start of what will be his farewell World Cup couldn’t have been any crueler for Luka Modric.
The player, who has appeared in five World Cups, was singled out for a childish mistake that cleared the way for England.
Nothing had happened for nine minutes, until the Croatian captain—instead of clearing the ball out of his area—waited for it to bounce, lost sight of his opponent, and struck Noni Madueke’s leg, who saw his chance to steal the ball.
A penalty and a goal for Harry Kane—but on his second attempt, since Dominik Livakovic guessed correctly on the first shot.
After a VAR review, the Bayern forward was awarded another chance because the Croatian goalkeeper had come off his line.
He repeated the move to his right, and Livakovic went the other way (Filed under: England unleashes its offensive power).
Kane stepped up again just as Croatia had regained hope
England found itself in the best possible situation.
He was able to take advantage of the speed on the right side provided by Noni Madueke, who started in place of Bukayo Saka.
And give Jude Bellingham room to showcase his powerful play across the entire field.
He seemed to have the situation under control.
But it’s not a good idea to get complacent against the Croatian team, because they’re unlikely to give up.
All it took was a defensive lapse for them to tie the game with a great shot by Martin Baturina from outside the box (36′).
And, conversely, we can’t lose sight of Kane, the relentless goal-scorer.
Just like on the corner kick in the 42nd minute, he slipped past the Croatian defense and scored with a header after bursting into the center of the box (Filed under: England unleashes its offensive power).
Croatia held on until halftime
For any team, that would have been the end of the game.
He would have weathered the storm and regrouped at halftime.
But not for the Vatreni. Back on the attack, they produced another quality play that began with a through ball into the box by Mario Pasalic, continued with a brilliant backheel assist from Ivan Perisic, and was finished off with a volley by Petar Musa in the dying moments of the first half (45+5).
There can be no script written in the England-Croatia match
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In the back-and-forth battle, however, the English team emerged victorious this time.
Once again, the Croatians’ weakness on the left was exposed.
Right at the start of the second half, Bellingham positioned himself in the box and beat Livakovic with a shot across the goal.
A major blow for the Croatian national team, which managed to hold on for the next quarter-hour thanks to the phenomenal goalkeeper whom Girona had turned down.
He made half a dozen nearly impossible saves, even as his teammates were in complete disarray on defense.
With Modric out after the 58th minute, Croatia had no further response.
England gradually gained control of the game and extended its lead through Marcus Rashford, 12 minutes after he entered the game.
And he secured more than three points.
He confirmed that his proposal is sound and that he has good reasons to believe it can go far (Filed under: England Unleashes Its Offensive Power).
Technical data
4. England: Jordan Pickford; Reece James, John Stones (Marc Guehi, 87′), Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly; Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice (Morgan Rogers, 73′); Noni Madueke (Bukayo Saka, 73′), Jude Bellingham (Djed Spence, 79′), Anthony Gordon (Marcus Rashford, 73′); Harry Kane.
Head Coach: Thomas Tuchel.
2. Croatia: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanicic, Josip Sutalo, Luka Vuskovic (Marco Pasalic, 66′), Josko Gvardiol; Luka Modric (Mateo Kovacic, 58′), Petar Sucic, Mario Pasalic (Andrj Kramaric, 78′), Martin Baturina (Nikola Vlasic, 78′), Ivan Perisic; Petar Musa (Igor Matanovic, 66′).
Head Coach: Slatko Dalic
Goals: 1-0, 12′: Kane (penalty). 1-1, 36′: Baturina. 2-1, 42′: Kane. 2-2, 45+5′: Musa. 3-2, 47′: Bellingham. 4-2, 85′: Marcus Rashford.
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA). No yellow cards.
Match Details: Group L opener played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in front of approximately 68,000 spectators (Filed under: England Unleashes Its Offensive Power).
With information from EFE
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