England vs Croatia – World Cup Rivals Meet Again
On Wednesday, the 17th of June, England will take on Croatia in Dallas in Group L. Croatia will be hoping to go further than their last World Cup campaign, when they managed to finish in third place in Qatar in 2022. England boasts a 100% qualifying campaign to get to the World Cup, and is hoping to get their hands on the famous trophy for the second time. The last time these heavyweight teams faced off against each other was in Russia in 2018, when Croatia beat England in the semi-finals. Croatia went on to lose the final to France.
England’s Attacking Style
England threatens its opposition with quick passes through the lines and dominates possession and the tempo of the game. The full-backs for England push up the pitch to create overloads, which are a danger for the opposition. England relies on pressing and putting pressure on the opposing team when they have possession to quickly gain the ball.
With Jude Bellingham, England have a central attacking threat that can drive forward with the ball. England’s main goal threat comes from the country’s record goal scorer, Harry Kane. He can drop into deeper roles, but when it comes to finishing in front of the goal, there is no player better.
England Team News
England has a few injuries that they will have to think about going into the match. John Stones has had injury problems throughout his career and will need to be observed. Palmer, Foden, Saka, and Bellingham have had their issues this season, so they will be monitored before this game. But with a team full of stars like Declan Rice, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, Bellingham, Pickford, and Saka, England will be one of the teams to beat in this year’s World Cup competition.
Croatia’s Attacking Style
With intelligent movement and experienced players, Croatia can control the tempo of the game to its advantage. Croatia can build up slowly with intelligent passes from creative players like Modric. This is a team that enjoys passing and breaking teams down with their possession-based football.
Even at forty years of age, Luka Modric is a big part of the attacking threat of the Croatian team. If a team overcommits against Croatia, they can expect to get hurt through controlled, intelligent passing patterns. The biggest strength of the Croatian team is their calmness under pressure as well as their tournament experience.
Croatia Team News
The Croatian captain, Luka Modric, has recently undergone surgery after a fractured cheekbone in a match against Juventus. The Croatian manager, Zlatko Dalic, believes Modric will be fit and able to play against England even if he has to wear a protective face mask. Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol is in a race to be fit in time for this match after undergoing surgery. He is the biggest concern for Croatia going into their opening World Cup game against England.
England vs Croatia Match Prediction
This is a big match to open Group L, with England one of the betting favourites to win the tournament, and Croatia a team that has overachieved over the last decade. In the last World Cup, Croatia lost to Argentina in the semi-finals, and in 2018, they reached the final, losing to France. For a country of just under 4 million people, Croatia has done amazingly well to create a football team that competes with the best.
As for England, they last won the World Cup back in 1966 when it was on home soil. They are one of the form sides and expected to go deep in the tournament. We predict that England will edge the game by a goal.
