O’Reilly urges England to go ‘all guns blazing’ against Croatia

Nico O’Reilly has urged England to go “all guns blazing” in their World Cup opener against Croatia.

England open their Group L campaign against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday.

Thomas Tuchel’s team are ranked as the third favourites to win the World Cup by Opta’s supercomputer, which rates their chances of glory at 10%.

The Three Lions were one of two European teams, along with Norway, to win 100% of their games in qualifying for the World Cup (8/8); they were also the only team from the UEFA section not to concede a single goal.

However, Tuchel’s pragmatic style of play has at times drawn criticism, and O’Reilly feels England must give a true account of themselves if they are to make a statement of intent.

“We’ve been acclimatising to the heat, a lot of training and then with the two games where everyone got some minutes,” said O’Reilly, as quoted by ESPN.

“I think we just need to go out there all guns blazing and show them what we’re made of.

“In a way [it’s been like a preseason] but it’s been intense. Obviously, we need to get ready for the tournament, and it’s been good.”

Down to work in KC pic.twitter.com/kbzDP1WH8w

— England (@England) June 13, 2026

England dispatched Costa Rica 3-0 in their final warm-up game, and O’Reilly wants that level of performance to be replicated.

“The togetherness we have got, it feels like a really tight group,” O’Reilly said.

“Everyone is together and it feels like we are bonding well, clicking well on the pitch.

“We had a lot of chances against Costa Rica and now it is time to put that work in and dominate games.”

Since winning the World Cup in 1966, England have progressed past the quarter-finals on only two occasions: 1990 and 2018.

England and Croatia are meeting at the World Cup for the second time. Their first encounter came in the semi-final of the 2018 tournament – Croatia won 2-1 after extra-time.