Wednesday 17th June 2026 9pm to 11pm
Wow Croatia 2 England 4 – Well done England what a way to kick off their World Cup 2026 campaign in Dallas, Texas.
Quickie match highlights, no ads, on Fifa’s website here: https://www.fifa.com/en/watch/69ls3TcVt6PIJPxhiREehA
I thought the weather was going to be a factor because who the hell would put a roof on an 80,000 seater stadium and run a/c for all of it … the Texans of course. So no hot and humid weather to bother either side.
It looks like past form was a good guide to tonight’s result which banks into the Group L stats a win, lots of goals-for and a nice goal difference (should they be needed later on, hopefully not).
Was this game psychologically settled 10 minutes in with a penalty retake? Both sides were nervous and messed up the way penalties are done initially, with the Croatians coming off very much worse for that on effort two.
While not quite a “Hand of God” moment given it was all above board, a hand of fate landing so early on with England was great to see as was the evident urgency to attack and score for the entire game.
This is a different type of England side than maybe many expected from previous campaigns that now goes to Boston to face Ghana on the 23rd.