{"id":1025502,"date":"2026-06-14T05:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1025502\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T05:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T05:49:27","slug":"how-will-england-line-up-against-croatia-in-their-2026-world-cup-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1025502\/","title":{"rendered":"How will England line up against Croatia in their 2026 World Cup opener?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The wait is almost over. Eighteen months after he was unveiled as England manager, Thomas Tuchel<\/a> will lead the Three Lions into the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday, with the express goal of \u201cputting a second star on the shirt\u201d. For fans, the extreme psychological sport that is watching England in a major tournament begins.<\/p>\n

Qualification was perfect \u2013 no draws, no defeats, no goals conceded \u2013 but some of England\u2019s friendly performances have been uninspiring <\/a>and even at this late stage, there remain some questions over exactly who makes up England\u2019s best XI as they prepare to face Croatia in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Jordan Pickford will, of course, start in goal and we have a fairly clear idea of the back four. Reece James and Nico O\u2019Reilly will be the full-backs, and the centre-back pairing will be two of Marc Guehi, John Stones and Ezri Konsa. <\/p>\n

BBC Sport reported this week that Tuchel is leaning towards Stones and Konsa, which perhaps points to the manager\u2019s preference for height and physicality in a tournament where he has stressed the importance of set-pieces. Konsa has played regularly for England under Tuchel, while Stones is England\u2019s most experienced tournament defender. <\/p>\n

The full-backs will play an important role not just defensively but in the way England build up from the back. Both James and O\u2019Reilly have played in midfield for Chelsea and Manchester City respectively this season and their ability and creativity on the ball \u2013 particularly James\u2019s passing range \u2013 will add another element to the tenacity of Elliot Anderson and the drive of Declan Rice, England\u2019s preferred pair in central midfield.<\/p>\n

\"HowHow England could line up against Croatia in their opening group match (The Independent)<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham is most likely to start in the No 10 position. Morgan Rogers played a key role throughout qualifying and Tuchel took a hard line on Bellingham\u2019s inclusion<\/a> in the squad last autumn. But the Real Madrid midfielder is a leader for England, someone who can take the burden off Harry Kane both in terms of his attacking output, with his runs beyond the striker and by assuming responsibility on the field. <\/p>\n

Bukayo Saka<\/a> will start on the right side, although Tuchel has hinted that fitness issues may limit his minutes <\/a>at the World Cup \u2013 Noni Madueke<\/a> could turn out to be crucial. Madueke was excellent in England\u2019s best game under Tuchel, the 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in qualifying, and it is possible that Madueke could even usurp Saka as England\u2019s starting winger later in the tournament if he impresses from the bench and Saka struggles for sharpness.<\/p>\n

Tuchel\u2019s biggest decision is on the left wing, and a choice between Anthony Gordon<\/a> and Marcus Rashford<\/a>. It is a strange dynamic, given Gordon has just signed for Barcelona days before travelling out to the US for this World Cup. He is effectively replacing Rashford, who spent the season on loan at the Nou Camp but will not have his temporary stay made permanent. Rashford is expected to find another place to play rather than return to Manchester United, where relations broke down last season. <\/p>\n

They are difficult to split. Rashford had an impressive season for Barcelona, scoring 14 goals and recording 14 assists in 49 appearances. Gordon\u2019s numbers weren\u2019t far behind, with 17 goals and five assists in 43 games for Newcastle. <\/p>\n

\"MarcusMarcus Rashford is battling with Anthony Gordon to start for England (Getty)<\/p>\n

Gordon played well against Costa Rica<\/a> in a friendly last week to push his case, but Rashford might just have the edge, given his experience on this stage. He is the more natural striker, and ultimately England\u2019s left winger will be required to make attacking runs in behind when Harry Kane drops deep to get involved in the play.<\/p>\n

It could also make sense for Gordon to be the finisher, rather than the starter, given his penalty prowess. Rashford\u2019s career penalty record is actually very good, but he hasn\u2019t taken many in recent seasons and England might rather finish extra time with Gordon on the pitch. <\/p>\n

Kane, of course, will lead the line. The England captain scored 61 goals for Bayern Munich this season, and provided seven assists, in an astonishing campaign.<\/p>\n

Who are the most likely players to be used from the bench? Madueke and either Gordon or Rashford will regularly appear in the second half of games to inject fresh energy on the wings. One or both of Rogers and Eberechi Eze will come on, particularly if England are searching for a goal. Kobbie Mainoo may get some minutes in central midfield, and Tino Livramento is the frontrunner among the reserve full-backs. <\/p>\n

Perhaps therein lies the logic of Tuchel\u2019s squad selection. The omissions of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer raised eyebrows and felt like a waste of English talent, but the result a lack of star names left stewing on the bench. That might make Tuchel\u2019s life a little easier over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1025503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,47671,41466,393,4884,44888,254524,252298,11627,103,47681,59502,283377,17742,457,2249,10031,93,16,15,659,134941],"class_list":["post-1025502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-britain","tag-color-image","tag-costa-rica","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-horizontal","tag-incidental-people","tag-international-team-soccer","tag-looking","tag-marcus-rashford","tag-match-sport","tag-national-team","tag-number-11","tag-one-person","tag-people","tag-photography","tag-soccer","tag-sport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-usa","tag-waist-up"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116746896636946301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}