Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane delivered when England needed them most, steering the team to a 4-2 victory over Croatia on Wednesday.
Kane struck twice to match England’s record for World Cup goals, while Bellingham restored control just two minutes into the second half to put England ahead for good.
Croatia kept pace in a rematch of their 2018 semifinal, with Martin Baturina and Petar Musa replying to Kane’s first-half double. Musa’s equalizer came on the final touch of the half, sending the teams level at the break.
The deadlock did not last long. Bellingham latched onto a long pass from Elliot Anderson, surged clear of the defense and finished off the far post beyond Dominik Livakovic. Marcus Rashford sealed the result in the 85th minute.
“He just told us to let the shackles off,” Kane said of coach Thomas Tuchel’s halftime message after Croatia pulled level late in the first half. “The way we conceded that second goal is not the team we want to be. He finally just said, ‘What’s the worst that can happen? We lose the match, first group game, we get on with it.’ We move on. Just go and kind of show the world who we can be.”
Kane, who won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia by scoring six goals, has 10 World Cup goals, tying Gary Lineker’s mark from the 1986 and 1990 tournaments.
The 32-year-old’s first goal came on his second attempt from the penalty spot after Dominik Livakovic saved the initial effort, only for a video review to show the goalkeeper had both feet off his line at the moment of the strike.
Kane went the same way toward the right post on the retake, while Livakovic dove the other direction.
The penalty was awarded when Luka Modric, the 40-year-old midfielder who extended his Croatia record by appearing in his fifth World Cup, fouled Noni Madueke in the thigh.
Kane matched Lineker’s mark when the Bayern Munich striker powered a header past Livakovic from a Declan Rice corner. Kane now has 81 international goals.
“We scored two goals from good actions and good situations, but it was not enough,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said through an interpreter. “England were very difficult. We also have to be stronger defensively.”
Bellingham almost immediately had another excellent scoring chance after the Real Madrid midfielder’s seventh international goal. Livakovic made the save, then produced several more stops during a frenetic spell of English pressure.
“We could have scored probably three goals in that 20-minute spell after halftime,” Kane said. “In the end, we just had too much for a great team that will probably go far in the tournament themselves.”
Musa scored the first World Cup goal for an active Major League Soccer player from FC Dallas, which plays its home matches about 40 miles from AT&T Stadium.
The retractable-roof venue, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, offered an air-conditioned reprieve from the muggy Texas heat for both sets of fans, with England supporters in white and Croatia fans in their familiar red-and-white checkered kits.
Musa met a header from Ivan Perišic and finished a one-timer past Jordan Pickford, who was also beaten in the 36th minute by Baturina. The shot into the left corner glanced off Pickford’s hand.
Bukayo Saka’s pass created space for Rashford, who entered the penalty area, feinted with his left foot and scored his 19th international goal with his right.
“I loved the second half, all of it,” Tuchel said. “I encouraged them to go for it, to play with more courage, to be brave, to be ourselves. Like I said, I loved their reaction.”
England next plays Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in Group L on Tuesday, the same day Croatia faces Panama in Toronto.
