England 4-2 Croatia: Kane's Double and Bellingham Settle a Six-Goal Opener

Tournament openers are supposed to be cagey. Nobody told these two. England began their World Cup with a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas that was equal parts thrilling and alarming — a game they led on three separate occasions, were dragged back into twice, and only truly settled after the interval. As a statement of attacking intent it could hardly have been louder; as a defensive audition, Thomas Tuchel will have watched the first half through his fingers.

It opened exactly the way England would have scripted it: Harry Kane, ice-cold from the penalty spot on twelve minutes, after Croatia were caught napping in their own box. For a quarter of an hour it looked routine. Then the game cracked open. Martin Baturina, the most inventive of Croatia's new generation, levelled on 36 minutes, and suddenly England's back line looked every bit as stretched as it had threatened to in the build-up.

Kane restored the lead on 42 with his second, the poacher's finish that has made him England's all-time leading scorer, and the half seemed won. It wasn't. Deep into first-half stoppage time — the fifth added minute — Petar Musa forced in Croatia's second for 2-2, and England trudged off having scored twice and gained nothing on the scoreboard.

What changed the night was the response to it. Forty-seven minutes on the clock, the second half barely under way, and Jude Bellingham did what the best players do on the biggest stage — he took the decision out of everyone else's hands. His strike for 3-2 was the act of a man who refuses to let his team drift, and it reset the whole complexion of the evening. From there England were the calmer side, and Croatia, for all their craft, began to feel the years in their legs.

The fourth showcased England's quietest advantage: depth. Marcus Rashford, sprung from the bench to run at a tiring back line, finished it on 85 to make the margin safe. A substitute who can change a game is what separates a good tournament side from a serious one, and Tuchel was handed early proof that his bench carries a threat of its own.

For Croatia this felt like a generational hinge. Luka Modrić, 40 now and surely at his final World Cup, still conducts the play, but the cast around him is turning over — Baturina and Musa both scored and both looked the part. The trouble is at the other end. Conceding four, repeatedly opened up in transition, is no foundation for a deep run, however many goals this attack proves it can muster.

Tactically the lessons run both ways. England threatened from everywhere — a penalty, a striker's instinct, a midfielder's surge, a substitute's directness — and four genuinely different goals is a frightening calling card in a 48-team field. But they were breached twice by a side plenty had written off, and the gaps Baturina and Musa found in behind will not have escaped the heavyweights waiting in the bracket.

So the verdict splits down the middle. England look like contenders — few teams here can score four without ever fully clicking — and Group L now looks theirs to top. Yet four-goal wins that leak two are a luxury that vanishes the instant games tighten. Tuchel has a fortnight of group football to turn a thrilling attack into a complete team. The ceiling is high; on this evidence, so is the risk.