The English national football team beat Croatia 4-2 in a crucial and high-scoring match of the 2026 World Cup group stage and earned three valuable points with the brilliance of its stars.
Publish dateThursday 18 June 2026 - 09:54
Story Code : 358282
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Sports Service: In one of the most important matches of the 2026 World Cup group stage, the English and Croatian national teams faced each other at 00:30 this morning (Thursday) Afghanistan time as part of a Group L match at the Dallas Stadium in the United States. This exciting and thrilling match ended with a 4-2 victory in favor of the Three Lions.
This crucial match soon became fraught with events and in the 9th minute, Luka Modric, an experienced Croatian player, accidentally shot Madoke's foot when he was trying to clear the ball from inside the penalty area, and French referee Clement Turpin immediately showed the penalty spot in favor of England.
England striker Harry Kane took the penalty but Dominik Ljubavić saved it. However, Harry Kane was lucky as the referee, after reviewing the scene with VAR, ordered a re-take because the Croatian goalkeeper had stepped forward too far. This time, Kane did not miss the opportunity in the 12th minute and opened the scoring for Croatia against the run of Ljubavić.
After this goal, Croatia came forward to make amends and created several half-chances on the English goal until, in the 36th minute, Martin Baturina opened the scoring for Jordan Pickford with a precise and beautiful shot from behind the penalty area to equalize.
Harry Kane then put England back in front with a beautiful header in the 42nd minute from Declan Rice's corner.
This was not the end of the first half, and Petar Musa, taking advantage of the weakness of the English defense and a beautiful team move, opened the Three Lions' goal in the 6th minute + 45th minute, and the two teams went to the locker room with a 2-2 draw.
Second half; England's stormy performance
England started the second half of this exciting game with a lot of ball, and this time Jude Bellingham opened the Croatian goal for the third time with a beautiful run to the ball and a precise shot in the 47th minute, bringing joy to the English camp once again.
Thomas Tuchel's players, who had no intention of retreating, put a lot of pressure on the Croatian goal after the third goal and went to the verge of scoring a fourth goal several times, but the brilliance of Dominik Livakovic prevented the English players from scoring. Until in the 85th minute, Marcus Rashford scored England's fourth goal on a counterattack and poured cold water on Croatia.
Croatia, who had been on par with England in the first half, was unable to repeat their first-half performance in the second half, and England had possession of the ball and the field for most of the game, eventually winning this crucial match 4-2.
This crucial match soon became fraught with events and in the 9th minute, Luka Modric, an experienced Croatian player, accidentally shot Madoke's foot when he was trying to clear the ball from inside the penalty area, and French referee Clement Turpin immediately showed the penalty spot in favor of England.
England striker Harry Kane took the penalty but Dominik Ljubavić saved it. However, Harry Kane was lucky as the referee, after reviewing the scene with VAR, ordered a re-take because the Croatian goalkeeper had stepped forward too far. This time, Kane did not miss the opportunity in the 12th minute and opened the scoring for Croatia against the run of Ljubavić.
After this goal, Croatia came forward to make amends and created several half-chances on the English goal until, in the 36th minute, Martin Baturina opened the scoring for Jordan Pickford with a precise and beautiful shot from behind the penalty area to equalize.
Harry Kane then put England back in front with a beautiful header in the 42nd minute from Declan Rice's corner.
This was not the end of the first half, and Petar Musa, taking advantage of the weakness of the English defense and a beautiful team move, opened the Three Lions' goal in the 6th minute + 45th minute, and the two teams went to the locker room with a 2-2 draw.
Second half; England's stormy performance
England started the second half of this exciting game with a lot of ball, and this time Jude Bellingham opened the Croatian goal for the third time with a beautiful run to the ball and a precise shot in the 47th minute, bringing joy to the English camp once again.
Thomas Tuchel's players, who had no intention of retreating, put a lot of pressure on the Croatian goal after the third goal and went to the verge of scoring a fourth goal several times, but the brilliance of Dominik Livakovic prevented the English players from scoring. Until in the 85th minute, Marcus Rashford scored England's fourth goal on a counterattack and poured cold water on Croatia.
Croatia, who had been on par with England in the first half, was unable to repeat their first-half performance in the second half, and England had possession of the ball and the field for most of the game, eventually winning this crucial match 4-2.
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