England vs Croatia: The best match of World Cup so far?

England 4–2 Croatia

Was this the best match of the World Cup so far?

After a breathtaking six-goal spectacle in Dallas, it is a question worth asking.

The southern US city has served as the backdrop for countless Hollywood thrillers over the years. At Dallas Stadium, England and Croatia produced one of their own, with Harry Kane, who scored twice, playing the leading role.

England twice took the lead in the first half, only for Croatia to fight back and equalise on both occasions. But after the break, the Croatians could not keep pace.

England scored twice more to secure an emphatic 4–2 victory and begin their World Cup campaign in style. Seeing the performance of Thomas Tuchel's side in their opening match, England supporters may already be singing, "It's Coming Home."

Croatia struggled to match England across the pitch. Jude Bellingham, Noni Madueke and company dominated with their pace, ball control and attacking movement. While Croatia managed to go toe-to-toe with England during an entertaining first half, their attacking threat gradually faded after the interval.

Both teams created several chances from crowded penalty-area situations in the second half, but a combination of outstanding goalkeeping and desperate defending prevented the scoreline from becoming even more remarkable.

The statistics reflect England's dominance. They attempted 22 shots, with 11 on target. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made three excellent saves, including a superb stop from point-blank range in the closing moments. At the opposite end, however, Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković was the busier man, producing seven saves to keep his side in the contest.
Yet even Livaković could not stop Kane's successful penalty.

The six-goal thriller began in the 12th minute after a costly mistake by Croatia's evergreen 40-year-old captain Luka Modrić. Playing in a record fifth World Cup, Modric attempted to clear the ball inside the box but instead caught Madueke with a kick to the thigh. The referee immediately pointed to the spot.

Livakovic initially saved Kane's penalty, but VAR showed the Croatian goalkeeper had moved off his line before the kick was taken. The penalty was retaken, and Kane made no mistake the second time.

With his fifth successful World Cup penalty (excluding shootouts), Kane now holds the outright record for the most penalty goals in World Cup history, moving ahead of Lionel Messi, Eusebio, Rob Rensenbrink and Gabriel Batistuta, who each scored four.

Croatia equalised in the 36th minute through Martin Baturina, whose superb curling effort from outside the box reignited the contest.

The game continued at a relentless pace as both teams traded attacks.

Three minutes before halftime, Kane restored England's lead, heading home Declan Rice's corner. Commentators questioned how England's best aerial threat had been left completely unmarked inside the penalty area.
The goal also carried historical significance.

Kane drew level with Gary Lineker as England's joint-highest scorer in World Cup history. Both strikers have now scored 10 goals in just 12 World Cup appearances.

Croatia refused to give in. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Ivan Perisic nodded a cross back into the danger area, allowing Petar Musa to fire home a superb equaliser and make it 2–2.

With the match level again, Jude Bellingham took charge after the restart.

Just two minutes into the second half, the Real Madrid midfielder burst down the right flank with Aston Martin-like speed before drilling a brilliant angled finish into the net.

Substitute Marcus Rashford completed the scoring five minutes from time, sealing England's entertaining victory.

After the match, Kane admitted England had looked like two different teams.

"It was two completely different halves. We played reasonably well in the first half, but the goals we conceded were really disappointing. At times it felt like we'd lost belief."

The England captain, who now has 81 goals in 115 international appearances, then explained what changed after halftime.

"The credit goes to the coach. His team talk at halftime was outstanding. He told us that if we were going to lose, we should at least lose playing our natural football. You could see that reflected in our second-half performance. We attacked with full intensity, and they simply couldn't cope with our pace."

I thought it was a game of two halves. I thought first half we were OK but really disappointed to concede the way we did, the way we dropped off.

“Credit (goes) to the manager. The manager gave us a speech at half-time, just to say if we lose we lose, but we lose in our way. You saw that the way we came out in the second half, we came out full gas. They couldn’t live with it and that’s the level we have to set every game,” Kane said.