'A convincing win': Stars shine for England in high-scoring World Cup match

Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jun 17, 2026

Published in Soccer

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The second World Cup match at AT&T Stadium was even more electric than the first as England outpaced Croatia in a 4-2 win Wednesday.

A sellout crowd of 70,389 fans clad in red and white on both sides was treated to a high-level match, as the stars of England delivered on the world’s biggest stage while Croatia stayed close with precision playmaking and numerous clutch saves.

“In the end it was a convincing win,” England striker Harry Kane said. “I think physically throughout the 90 minutes the guys that came on kept the level really high. In the end we just had too much for them, who are a great team and will probably go far in the tournament themselves.”

Here are the key moments in the match:

England delivers late dagger

After taking a 3-2 lead in the opening moments of the second half, England tried its best to put the game away, but Croatia turned away multiple scoring opportunities, including one sequence when Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic turned away a header and then another shot in a span of seconds.

Livakovic deserves some credit for keeping Croatia in the match despite conceding four goals, as he faced a relentless attack from England. The Three Lions finally broke through in the 85th minute as Marcus Rashford made a defender miss after fielding a cross and then delivered the strike past Livakovic to finally ice the game.

The depth and speed of England were ultimately too much to overcome, as England had 11 shots on goal to just five for Croatia.

Jude Bellingham delivers in the second half

One reason the Three Lions are ranked No. 4 by FIFA is the presence of talented and proven stars like midfielder Jude Bellingham. After coming close on numerous attacking opportunities in the first, the Real Madrid star put England ahead for the good in the opening moments of the second.

Bellingham took a pass out wide on the right side of the wing and outraced his defender to the box. Once in scoring range, he used his strength to shield off the closing defender before delivering the strike in the 47th minute.

Bellingham almost had another goal a minute later, but was turned away by Livakovic. When he wasn’t pressing the pace on offense, Bellingham was also a defensive menace in the midfield with countless interceptions.

“Jude’s one of the best players in the world,” forward Morgan Rogers said. “If we’re going to do well in this tournament, he’s going to have to be at the forefront of it.”

Harry Kane makes history in the first half

Fans were treated to a fast and furious first half, as the teams went into the break locked in a 2-2 draw. World-class striker Harry Kane did all the scoring for the Three Lions and also made history in the process.

His first goal came in the 13th minute after two critical mistakes by Croatia. A penalty gave Kane a penalty shot that was initially blocked, but Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol was called for encroachment, giving Kane another chance and he wouldn’t be denied a second time. (The Croatia goalkeeper also appeared to come off his line early on the first penalty shot.)

“Going into the second one, I think there was more pressure, a bit more mind games associated with it,” Kane said. “But in that moment I always trust my process to execute the way I wanted to, and it was nice to see it go in.”

Kane’s second score came in the 42nd minute as he converted a set piece with a nice header to move England ahead 2-1. Kane tied Gary Lineker for the most World Cup goals by an England player with 10.

Catching Lineker wasn’t the only motivation that Kane had. Other superstars like Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland all scored two goals in their World Cup openers on Tuesday. Kane considers himself in the same tier as those strikers and said he couldn’t be outdone in his own opener.

“I saw the guys scoring their goals yesterday,” he said. “I don’t like to focus on other people, but it’s natural as sportsman and an athlete to try and reach the highest levels. I’ve been waiting long enough to play the game, we’ve had to wait six days, so I’ve just been itching to get out there. As a striker myself I want to get on the scoresheet as early as possible.”

Croatia’s technical skill

While England relied on the brilliance of Kane in the first half, Croatia answered with breathtaking passing displays deep in England territory.

Croatia tied the game at 1-1 in the 36th minute on a goal from Martin Baturina. His goal was impressive, but the real star of the play was teammate Petar Sucic, who used some slick dribbling to make an England defender fall before finding Baturina for the score.

England was mere moments from taking a 2-1 lead into half, but FC Dallas’ Petar Musa would tie it in the last minute of extra time. His goal was also set up by a highlight play as Ivan Perisic used the right amount of touch on a header to a streaking Musa for the goal.

Despite being thoroughly outshot, Croatia used a quality-over-quantity approach to hold even early.

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