England
- England have won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five games, beating New Zealand and Costa Rica in their last two.
- England, under Thomas Tuchel since January 2025, are the more talented, the more enthusiastic and the more likely winners in this matchup of the tournament favourites and 2018 runners-up.
- England's game plan involves some very good possession soccer, high-pressing and quick, vertical transitions.
- They try to overload the central areas and exploit the width and depth behind the defence as quickly as possible.
- Jude Bellingham's surging runs and creativity between the lines have been key to their buildup play, while Phil Foden's brilliance unlocks defences and Harry Kane has three of England's seven goals in their last five matches.
Croatia
- Croatia have won two and lost one of their last three away games, including a win at Hungary and a defeat in Italy.
- Croatia, by contrast, will be patient, possession-based and midfield-dominated with Luka Modric the master conductor dictating the tempo and orchestrating attacks.
- Dalić has a veteran squad that he can trust, as he showed with their 2018 run to the final, and has plenty of good options to deal with England's tactics.
- Joško Gvardiol, who anchors their defence, is a physical presence and good ball player from the back while Andrej Kramarić's movement and goalscoring record make him a threat to any defence.
Key Players
- Jude Bellingham's surging runs and creativity between the lines have been key to their buildup play.
- Harry Kane has three of England's seven goals in their last five matches.
- Joško Gvardiol, who anchors their defence, is a physical presence and good ball player from the back.
- Andrej Kramarić's movement and goalscoring record make him a threat to any defence.
Betting Insights
- England's form is good and they have enough quality to be slight favorites at 1.78 in this game, but we are happy to take Croatia at 4.82 here in the double chance market with a draw at 3.85 also very tempting.
- The market looks right, however, in suggesting this will be a cagey affair with Under 2.5 goals at 1.74 the obvious play here as Group L's teams feel each other out.
- England have won eight, drawn one and lost only one of their last ten matches in all competitions, while Croatia have seven wins, one draw and two defeats in their most recent ten.
Prediction
- England are rightly favorites to beat Croatia in their Group L opener on Wednesday, but we still see the Croatians as a good bet to take points from the Group L matchup and even beat the 2026 team.
- Who controls the midfield will determine the flow of the game at Dallas Stadium.
