LOS ANGELES: England launched their World Cup bid with a rollercoaster 4-2 win against Croatia on Wednesday as Colombia opened their Group ‘K’ campaign with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan.
In an enthralling Group ‘L’ game at the Texas home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team, Harry Kane scored twice before goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford made the game safe as England began their bid to end a 60-year wait for a major trophy.
Kane got the ball rolling by slotting home a penalty at the second attempt after the referee ordered him to re-take it when Croatian ‘keeper Dominik Livakovic was adjudged to have been off his line.
Croatia fought back and Martin Baturina brought them level after 36 minutes before unmarked Kane equalled Gary Lineker’s England record of 10 World Cup goals with a thumping header.
But the English defensive frailties were on show when Petar Musa equalised for Croatia in first-half stoppage time.
Only in the second half did England impose their will. Bellingham scored a classy goal after outrunning his defender before substitute Rashford took his time before slotting the ball into the net on 85 minutes.
Kane revealed that England’s German coach Thomas Tuchel had told his players at half-time to throw caution to the wind.
“The manager gave us a speech at half-time just to say, look, if we lose, we lose. We’re losing our way,” Kane said.
“And I think you saw that, the way we come out in the second half. We went full gas. And they couldn’t live with it.”
NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, who led his country to the 2018 World Cup final and the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar, said that they have no more room for error now.
“It’s not easy to lose,” he told reporters. “You lose your self-confidence, and that’s not good.
“We must prepare quite well for the next two games in the first stage. It’s very important for us to be at the right level after this defeat. We do not have the right to any more mistakes.
“We do not have the right to bad matches or mistakes. I wouldn’t say that this was a bad match. There were some errors we committed, some mistakes we made. We were punished by our opponent. Two matches are ahead of us, new beginnings.”
Dalic was particularly scathing of his team’s efforts at defending set pieces after two of England’s goals followed corners.
“We used to be quite good at set pieces. We didn’t concede goals that easily, and we practised for this opponent. We knew the way England were going to play,” he said.
“It was disastrous, specifically when it comes to a team like England. About 40% of their goals are from set pieces. We must correct it and must avoid similar mistakes in the future,” he added.
DIAZ SHINES
In Wednesday’s late game, Colombia defeated debutants Uzkbekistan at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca.
Bayern Munich star Luis Diaz set up an opening volleyed goal for Daniel Munoz and then scored Colombia’s second in the 65th minute before Jaminton Campaz added a third with a header in stoppage time.
Abbosbek Fayzullaev claimed a sliver of history by scoring Uzkekistan’s first ever goal in a World Cup match.
The large Colombian contingent erupted, their yellow shirts making the Azteca look and sound almost like home. Chants of “Vamos Colombia”, adapted from a Club America-style chorus, rolled around the ground, while Uzbekistan’s small band of supporters answered with drums of their own.
Gustavo Puerta released Diaz in the 65th minute and the forward side-footed across goal to restore Colombia’s lead. The crowd responded with chants of Diaz’s nickname, “Lucho, Lucho”.
“I worked and fought for this. I am living out my childhood dream of playing in a World Cup with my national team, and it’s even better to have contributed a goal and an assist,” Diaz told reporters.
“I am in peak physical and mental condition; this is my first World Cup, and it is incredibly special,” he added.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan head coach Fabio Cannavaro said he was proud of his teams performance praising his players effort in a challenging atmosphere.
“I told them that I am very proud of the match they played. I told them I really liked what I saw,” Cannavaro said. “It wasn’t easy, we were playing in Mexico, but it felt like playing in Colombia with all the Colombian fans here.”
Cannavaro said the experience of playing in such a historic venue would stay with his players.
“Playing here is something wonderful. Its something you will remember your whole life. Its the first time my players have played in this stadium, and they will remember it forever,” he said.
“When a small team like ours works the way it did today, its clear that losing 3-1 is too much,” added Cannavaro.
Cannavaro, 20 years after lifting the World Cup as Italy captain, became only the fourth Ballon d’Or winner to appear at a World Cup as both player and coach, following Franz Beckenbauer, Oleg Blokhin and Marco van Basten.
GHANA EDGE PANAMA
In Wednesday’s other game, Ghana snatched a 1-0 win over Panama with an injury-time winner in Toronto to join England on three points in Group ‘L’.
An attritional battle looked destined to finish in a goalless draw until Caleb Yirenkyi bundled in the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time for the Black Stars.
Ghana reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup but have been eliminated in the group stage at their two most recent appearances in the tournament in 2022 and 2014. The African side will play England in Boston on June 23.
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said wins in this World Cup came at a high price and that his players had shown they were ready to pay it.
Queiroz brushed aside questions about the absence of midfielder Thomas Partey from the game due to a Canadian travel ban and visa issues.
“With the football we played today we can count on Ghana to do something,” he told reporters.
Queiroz, 73, was not scheduled to go to the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States until April when Ghana appointed him in place of Otto Addo, fired in March after a series of disappointing results.
The Portuguese, however, complained about the rough handling of Ghana players by the Panamanian side, and said his team were “naive and not aggressive in the first half”.
Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026