A chaotic, gloriously open opener under Thomas Tuchel. Harry Kane struck twice (a 12th-minute penalty and a 42nd-minute finish), Jude Bellingham rifled England ahead just after the break, and Marcus Rashford sealed a 4–2 win — with Martin Baturina and Petar Musa keeping Croatia in it and exposing England's leaky defence.

The records tumbled. Kane's second goal took him level with Gary Lineker on 10 England World Cup goals. Bellingham became only the third man to score at two different World Cups before turning 23 — joining Pelé and Michael Owen, and at 22y 353d the youngest of the three. For Croatia, the evergreen Ivan Perišić assisted in a fourth different World Cup, matching only Messi since 1966.

Weird & wonderful

Three generations of England No. 9 lore in one stat line: Lineker (1986–90), Kane (2018–26), and now Bellingham writing himself alongside Pelé before his 23rd birthday.

England's 2.8 xG to Croatia's 0.71, and a 22-10 shot edge (11-5 on target), shows the 4-2 scoreline flattered Croatia, who took both their goals (Baturina, Musa) from a low-volume, low-xG output that punished defensive lapses around the half-hour and in first-half stoppage time. Despite only marginal possession superiority (52-48), England generated 37 touches in the opposition box and converted their chaotic chance-creation into four goals, including a Kane brace that started with a retaken, initially-saved penalty. Croatia's two strikes against just 0.71 xG amounted to ruthless overperformance, but their inability to sustain pressure (only 10 shots, 5 on target) meant they could never threaten to overhaul England's repeated leads. The numbers paint England as comfortably the better side whose defensive sloppiness, not Croatian dominance, made the final margin closer than the underlying play warranted.