England face Croatia in World Cup Group L tomorrow night. Can the Three Lions take revenge for their semi-final loss in 2018?
England’s seemingly never-ending quest for the World Cup title starts again tomorrow night when they face Croatia in Arlington.
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The Three Lions reached the quarter-finals in Qatar four years ago, where they lost to then reigning champion France. In Russia in 2018, they went one step further before losing to Croatia in the semi-finals.
In addition, there have been two European Championship final defeats in the last five years – the trophy continues to elude them.
Thomas Tuchel has been brought in to replace Gareth Southgate, and the FA hopes that his reputation as a winner at club level will bring success at international level as well.
Qualifying for the World Cup was impressive with eight wins and eight games without a goal, but some of his recent performances have left a lot to be desired, as Tuchel has experimented to find the right combinations.
The international break in March saw draws against Uruguay and losses against Japan, while the pre-season games in Florida against New Zealand and Costa Rica were also not flawless.
The last two games have given a clue to Tuchel’s thoughts ahead of the opening match. The biggest surprise is his apparent preference for a centre-back pairing consisting of Ezri Konsa and the injury-free John Stones, with Marc Guehi relegated to the bench.
Stones had another injury-plagued season at Manchester City and admitted that he even considered retiring in October.
“It was a difficult period when I said that, and I hope I don’t get there again,” Stones told BBC Sport.
“We can all compare ourselves to other people or other players from different eras and think about what their journey was like, or how it could have been different. I’m guilty of it – “why are these things happening to me? That doesn’t happen to others.”
“I really had to dig deep, and I’m proud of myself for having been so mentally strong through it all and coming out on the other side of these situations.
“I feel like one of my biggest accomplishments is to keep coming back from these setbacks, no matter how big they are, and be in top shape and go into games and play at such a high level.
Croatia with routine and motivation
Croatia has a squad full of experience, led by the timeless Luka Modrić.
The 40-year-old had an impressive debut season at AC Milan and still possesses enough creativity to cause problems for any defence.
Croatia does not lack motivation. The country’s leading sports newspaper Sports Novosti recently wrote about the country’s dislike of the English and what they perceive as arrogant rejection of a nation that reached the semi-finals in 2022 and the final in 2018.
An editorial today read:
“There is no bigger game for Croats than against England. When they brag and overestimate themselves – when they think they are world champions – their motivation rises to the sky and the desire to win is greater than against anyone else.
“History repeats itself, and the Three Lions do not perceive Croatia as a team that has finished second and third in the world, and that made them cry in the semi-finals. They see us as a team from the B level of nations, with a goal that is only to reach the World Cup, the newspaper wrote.
England vs Croatia Team Updates
Tino Livramento has withdrawn from the squad due to a calf injury and will return to Newcastle for treatment. Chelsea stopper Trevoh Chalobah has been called up, but will not be considered for this game. Jude Bellingham is said to have won the battle with Morgan Rogers for the role of number 10.
Croatia have a fully injury-free squad, and coach Zlatko Dalić’s biggest headache is choosing between Petar Musa or Andrej Kramarić up top.
Predicted England vs Croatia line-ups
England: Pickford; James, Konsa, Stones, O’Reilly; Rice, Anderson, Bellingham; Saka, Gordon, Kane
Croatia: Livaković; Šutalo, Vušković, Gvardiol; Stanišić, Modrić, Kovačić, Perišić; Sučić, Baturina; Musea
England vs Croatia stats
- This is Croatia’s seventh World Cup participation. In their previous six appearances, they have either been knocked out in the group stage (three times) or reached the semi-finals (three times), including a place in the final in 2018.
- Croatia and France are the only teams to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last two World Cup finals.
- Croatia have won all four of their penalty shootouts at the World Cup – this is the best record in the tournament’s history, along with Germany.
- Luka Modrić has completed more passes breaking the opponent’s lines than any other player in the last three World Cup tournaments – the Croatian captain has broken the opponent’s lines 199 times in 17 games.
- England are taking part in their 17th World Cup – this also marks their eighth straight participation, the longest unbroken streak in their history.
- Since winning their only World Cup in 1966, England have only reached the quarter-finals on two occasions: 1990 (4th place) and 2018 (4th place).
- England kept a clean sheet in nine of their ten matches in 2025, including in all eight UEFA World Cup qualifiers, making them the only team not to concede a goal in UEFA qualifying. England’s 2.1 expected goals against was also the best of any European team.
- England have both won and kept clean sheets in each of their last ten competitive matches, making them the second European nation to do so, after Spain between October 2014 and June 2016.
England vs. Croatia betting
A tricky opening for England, but we think Thomas Tuchel’s men can just about settle against an ageing Croatia and get off to a solid start to their World Cup campaign.
Betting: England 2-1 Croatia
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