{"id":643,"date":"2026-06-18T10:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T10:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T10:06:37","slug":"england-surges-to-thrilling-opening-win-against-croatia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=643","title":{"rendered":"England surges to thrilling opening win against Croatia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Anthony Barry did not hold back in his half-time assessment of England\u2019s opening 2026 World Cup match against Croatia.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOverall, it was a complicated and confusing first half from us,\u201d the assistant coach told English broadcaster ITV.<\/p>\n

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He went on to critique the \u201cnervous energy\u201d and how he felt that bled into their build-up, as England struggled to find ways through or round the Croatia press.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made some decisions where the energy was not free in our mind: playing long when we should play short, and short when we should play long. Not playing through the gaps, so not allowing us to accelerate our game the way we wanted to,\u201d Barry added.<\/p>\n

He sounded frustrated that Harry Kane\u2019s goals on 12 and 42 minutes \u2014 the former a penalty and the latter a header from Declan Rice\u2019s outswinging corner \u2014 had not settled the team. Croatia twice pegged England back, including in the fifth minute of first-half injury time, right before he was interviewed. \u201cWe fall back into some fearful patterns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At best his comments were harsh, pressure-induced and said in the heat of the moment in a World Cup game, just after his team had conceded.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also an argument that coaches, assistants or otherwise, ought to protect their players and be careful if and when they criticize. But it also tells us a lot about Thomas Tuchel and how the England head coach, plus Barry and the rest of the staff, analyse the side, as well as the standards they hold them to.<\/p>\n

England did start sloppily. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford kicked long from the outset and they gave away a corner inside two minutes by overplaying in their own third. Their efforts to solve the press involved rolling left back Nico O\u2019Reilly into midfield, a role he played to great effect for Manchester City this past season, as well as splitting the center-backs wider.<\/p>\n

Declan Rice roamed between deep central spaces and the left touchline, with Jude Bellingham staying on the right and Elliot Anderson anchoring the midfield. Often England played with some kind of diamond.<\/p>\n

Packing the center of the pitch with many bodies is designed to create overloads and offer routes through the middle, with less risk of a turnover. Except, to Barry\u2019s point, England were a little guilty of not looking to break lines on the ground but instead going straight in-behind.<\/p>\n

Reece James did this from right-back when both Bellingham and Noni Madueke made runs in-behind the Croatia back five. That pattern repeated with roles reversed later in the half, when Bellingham tried to find James with a ball over the top.<\/p>\n

Kane contributed to this, too. On one occasion when the Bayern Munich striker dropped deep, he lost the ball, and another time he came as far back as the center-backs to take the ball off Pickford, and, under no pressure, attempted a Hollywood pass for Bellingham.<\/p>\n

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As the half drew on, the pattern became Pickford launching balls towards left-winger Anthony Gordon, who was the highest player, leaving Kane a little deeper to try and land on second balls. Pickford\u2019s 71 touches and 55 passes across the match were the highest by any goalkeeper in the opening round of matches this tournament.<\/p>\n

Just once in the opening 45 minutes did England truly break the first line of pressure when Croatia committed, working a neat pattern from Pickford into Anderson, then to left center-back John Stones, who used O\u2019Reilly as the escape route to slip a straight pass for Rice\u2019s diagonal run \u2014 only for the Arsenal midfielder to then turn down a simple forward ball which would have released Gordon.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s pace and directness in the team, on the wings especially, and that suits playing in-behind. What became better after half-time was the timing of England\u2019s long passes. They completed just six of 22 attempted long balls in the first half (27 per cent), which improved to 10 from 20 after Tuchel\u2019s team talk.<\/p>\n

The counter-point to Barry\u2019s assessment is that England were ahead within two minutes of the restart, thanks to a 23-pass sequence which started following Croatia\u2019s long ball at kick-off. They worked the ball up and then back down, from the left out to the right, and waited for their moment to go long.<\/p>\n

That came when Croatia\u2019s left side jumped, with wing-back Ivan Perisic stepping out to England right-back James and the center-backs also locking on. Bellingham and Madueke realised this and immediately darted into the vacated space, and Anderson\u2019s booming ball over the back five sent Bellingham through to score.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember all 23 (passes),\u201d Bellingham said on ITV about the goal. \u201cI remember Elliot\u2019s was pretty brilliant. The work that goes into creating those kinds of plays takes us weeks to get right.\u201d<\/p>\n

In midfield, they were front-footed and aggressive, repeatedly man-marking Croatia tightly, both in the mid-block and when pressing high. Luka Modric was limited to a timid display, completing all 27 of his passes but only playing forward four times, before being subbed on 58 minutes.<\/p>\n

Early on, England\u2019s counter-press was sharp and well co-ordinated, compensating for some poor vertical passes with aggression to quickly regain possession. It should be that good, after all. Last March, Tuchel told reporters he wanted his England side to reflect the intensity of the Premier League and its high physical demands.<\/p>\n

He picked a squad to fulfil that, with height, stamina and pace decisive factors in certain selections, and clearly reminded his players of that during the break. They committed the cardinal tactical sin of sitting deep without pressure on the ball to allow Croatia\u2019s second goal, which owed to a smart inside run from Perisic and a precise chipped pass by Mario Pasalic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Tuchel) gave us a speech at half-time just to say \u2018If we lose we lose, but we lose in our way\u2019,\u201d Kane told reporters. \u201cYou saw that in the second half. We went full gas and they couldn\u2019t live with it. Without the ball, we went a little more aggressive. Intensity is our biggest strength and we will have to use that this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.<\/ins><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 The New York Times Company<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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