How England blew Croatia away despite defensive worries | OneFootball

England sealed a 4-2 win over Croatia in an entertaining 2026 FIFA World Cup encounter at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Three Lions.

A brace from Harry Kane and superb solo goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford were enough to seal victory, but question remarks remain about the Three Lions’ defensive capabilities.

For as good as Thomas Tuchel’s charges were in attack – and at times they were truly scintillating – Wednesday’s match also exposed significant frailties which will be punished against other tournament favourites should they make the knockout stages as expected.

FromTheSpot analyses where England shone, and what needs to change ahead of next week’s clash against African titans Ghana.

Madueke shines as Tuchel’s system clicks into gear

Perhaps the most notable element of England’s attacking play was their use of the wide areas.

Tuchel has made no secret of his desire to replicate his Bayern Munich system with England, where Kane dropped deep to feed in wingers running beyond, and just as in the final pre-tournament friendly against Costa Rica, that system was on full display.

Noni Madueke in particular was a standout, as the Arsenal man frequently used the spaces vacated by Kane to terrorise the Croatian defence with his pace and directness in much the same way that Michael Olise does at Bayern.

And to top it off, the Premier League winner demonstrated a significantly improved end product from previous outings, creating one big chance and two key passes.

Set pieces make an impact as Rice shows his prowess

Like with many teams in this year’s competition, set pieces were also a major weapon for England. In Declan Rice, the Three Lions possess arguably the finest corner-taker in the world, and his pinpoint deliveries created one goal for Kane and almost led to another for Nico O’Reilly.

Zlatko Dalic claimed to have prepared his side for such situations knowing the Three Lions would utilise them heavily, but in the end his players could do very little against the Arsenal midfielder’s quality.

Poor defensive display causes concern despite positive result

One area that really let England down was the defence, with the Three Lions somehow conspiring to concede twice after taking the lead in the first half.

At several points throughout the game, Tuchel’s back line left open spaces in the final third thanks to a failure to adequately pressure an ageing Croatia attack. This was particularly evident for Martin Baturina’s superb equaliser, as the young Como star was given all the time in the world to sit John Stones down before unleashing a thunderbolt from range.

Croatia’s second, meanwhile, came about after Reece James allowed himself to be dragged into leaving Petar Musa to close down Ezri Konsa’s man, affording the FC Dallas forward time and space to poke home from an Ivan Perisic header.

As for Nico O’Reilly, the Man City left-back was caught napping on three separate occasions in a repeat of his poor performances in the New Zealand and Costa Rica games.

Bellingham the difference maker in second 45 after quiet first half

Jude Bellingham had a real mixed bag of a game.

The Real Madrid midfielder failed to stamp his authority on proceedings in the first half, as England struggled to cope with Croatia’s aggressive press and narrow defending, but in the second 45, he truly came alive.

But it was the goal to put England back in front just after the restart that really highlighted his best qualities, with the Stourbridge native carrying the ball well before checking inside and unleashing a strike into the right corner.

Stellar second half substitutes enjoy instant impact

Encouraging signs also came by way of the substitutes.

Bukayo Saka, rested due to fitness concerns, appeared to have an almost telepathic connection with Djed Spence, linking up well with the Tottenham right-back on multiple occasions. Nowhere was this seen better than England’s fourth goal, as the pair played a lovely one-two with each other before Saka fed in Marcus Rashford to fire past a stubborn Dominic Livakovic for England’s fourth.

Despite the defensive gripes, this was an excellent victory for England overall. After all the complaints about boredom and negativity under Gareth Southgate, the Three Lions have woken up and decided to heed the mantra of Fat Les’ hit Vindaloo by attempting to score one more than their opposition.

But it is that same mentality which could leave Tuchel’s squad vulnerable against elite forwards such as Vini Jr, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, with any path to World Cup glory likely to include a meeting with fellow favourites Brazil and Spain.

All told, Wednesday’s result was a job done well against a team who are likely to be one of England’s harder opponents this summer. But for all the euphoria of sealing the win – and, for once, playing entertaining football – fans are likely to come away from the fixture with just as many questions as they have answers.