Stars shine as England takes down Croatia in high-scoring World Cup match
The second World Cup match at AT&T Stadium was even more electric than the first as England outpaced Croatia in a 4-2 win Wednesday.
A sellout crowd of 70,389 fans clad in red and white on both sides was treated to a high-level match, as the stars of England delivered on the world’s biggest stage while Croatia stayed close with precision playmaking and numerous clutch saves.
Here’s how the match unfolded:
England delivers late dagger
After taking a 3-2 lead in the opening moments of the second half, England tried to its best to put the game away, but Croatia turned away multiple scoring opportunities including one sequence when Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic turned away a header and then another shot in a span of seconds.
Livakovic deserves some credit for keeping Croatia in the match despite conceding four goals as he faced a relentless attack from England. The Three Lions finally broke through in the 86th minute as Marcus Rashford made a defender miss after fielding a cross and then delivered the strike past Livakovic to finally ice the game.
The depth and speed of England was ultimately too much to overcome as England had 11 shots on goal compared to just five for Croatia.
Jude Bellingham delivers in the second half
One reason the Three Lions are ranked No. 4 by FIFA is the presence of talented and proven stars like midfielder Jude Bellingham. After coming close on numerous attacking opportunities in the first, the Real Madrid star put England ahead for the good in the opening moments of the second.
Bellingham took a pass out wide on the right side of the wing and out raced his defender to the box. Once in scoring range, he used his strength to shield off the closing defender before delivering the strike in the 48th minute.
Bellingham almost had another goal a minute later, but was turned away by Livakovic.
Harry Kane makes history in the first half
Fans were treated to a fast and furious first half between England and Croatia as the teams went into halftime locked in a 2-2 draw. World-class strike Harry Kane did all the scoring for the Three Lions and also made history in the process.
His first goal came in the 13th minute after two critical mistakes by Croatia. A penalty gave Kane a penalty shot that was initially blocked, but Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol was called for encroachment, giving Kane another chance and he wouldn’t be denied a second time.
Kane’s second score in the 43rd as he converted a set piece with a nice header to move England ahead 2-1. Kane tied Gary Lineker for the most World Cup goals by an England player with 10.
Croatia’s technical skill
While England relied on the brilliance of Kane in the first, Croatia answered with breathtaking pass displays deep in England territory.
Croatia tied the game at 1-1 in the 37th minute after a goal from Martin Baturina. His goal was impressive, but the real star of the play was his teammate Petar Sucic, who used some slick dribbling to make an England defender fall before finding Baturina for the score.
England was mere moments from taking a 2-1 lead into half, but FC Dallas’ Petar Musa would tie in the last minute of extra time. His goal was also set up by a highlight play as Ivan Perisic used the right amount of touch on a header to a streaking Musa for the goal.
Despite being thoroughly outshot, Croatia used a quality-over-quantity approach to hold even early.
This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 5:29 PM.
