England and Croatia had to wait six days after the start of the World Cup to finally take the field, this Wednesday (17), and confirm why this was one of the most anticipated clashes in the first phase of the competition.
In the first half, Harry Kane scored twice, his 10th goal in World Cups, and Croatia sought a draw with beautiful goals from Baturina and Musa in a packed AT&T stadium in Dallas. In front of 70,389 spectators, the second stage saw pressure from the English, who scored with Bellingham and Rashford, and a great performance from Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic. England won 4-2.
The opening match of Group L promised to highlight the clash between the stars Luka Modric, a Croatian who at 40 years old is playing in his fifth World Cup, probably his last, and Kane, who had a spectacular last season for Bayern Munich and is now, alongside Gary Lineker, England’s top scorer in World Cups.
The two were protagonists right from the beginning. But not as expected in relation to Modric. After a corner was taken by England and the ball was left on the edge of the area, the Croatian midfielder tried to clear it and hit the English striker Madueke. Penalty for the English at 8 minutes.
Harry Kane got the ball, hit it badly and stopped in Livakovic’s defense. The center forward redeemed himself after a VAR review found that the goalkeeper had stepped forward and French referee Clément Turpin ordered the penalty to be taken back. On the second chance, Kane didn’t waste it and shot hard into the left corner to open the scoring.
Predominant in possession, the English created more from the wings, with Madueke and Anthony Gordon, but the Croatian defense did well in the cuts.
The first equalizer came in the 36th minute, with an assist from Modric’s namesake: midfielder Luka Sucic advanced into the area, cleared the play and rolled back for Baturina to shoot hard towards Pickford’s goal, who actually touched the ball before it died in the net.
England regained the lead six minutes later. From another corner kick by Declan Rice, Kane rose alone into the box to head the ball and beat Livakovic again.
Still in the first half, a well-worked play collectively by the Croatians culminated in the submission of Musa, a 28-year-old striker from FC Dallas, equalizing the score in the last play before the break.
The final stage began with complete dominance by the English, who made it 3-2 with Bellingham after 2 minutes. The Real Madrid midfielder received a pass from Elliot Anderson, ran down the right and shot across the goal.
He almost expanded on the next move after Livakovic’s wrong throw. The goalkeeper soon redeemed himself with three great saves in a row.
Modric’s lackluster performance ended after 12 minutes, when he was replaced by Kovacic. Coach Zlatko Dalic tried to react by fielding Pasalic, Matanovic, Vlasic and Kramaric, who has three goals in World Cups.
The Croatians attacked a few times, forcing Pickford to act. But the score was settled in the 41st minute by two Englishmen who also came from German Thomas Tuchel’s bench. Bukayo Saka played for Rashford to hit the corner and confirm the fourth goal.
His performance on his debut made Kane become England’s top scorer in World Cups, with ten, alongside Gary Lineker, who shone in the last edition held in Mexico, in 1986.
In 2018 alone, in Russia, there were six goals from the Bayern Munich striker, who is coming off an impressive season in Europe: he scored 61 goals and provided seven assists in 51 matches. For the national team, he now has 81 goals in 115 games.
At 32 years old, this is his third World Cup. In his debut, he is already second in top scorer in the competition, tied with names like Mbappé and Haaland, all just behind Lionel Messi, who scored three of Argentina’s four goals in the debut against Algeria this Tuesday (16).
Also this Wednesday, Ghana and Panama will play at 8pm at the BMO Field stadium, in Toronto, in the same group.
Next Tuesday (23), England will face Ghana in Boston, at 5pm, and Croatia will go to Canada to face Panama, at 8pm.
