England v Croatia LIVE: World Cup 2026 result and reaction as Thomas Tuchel gives Declan Rice injury update after thumping win

Thomas Tuchel didn’t scream and shout at his players at half-time, although he must have resisted a mighty urge after watching them twice squander the lead against Croatia in their World Cup opener in Dallas. England went out of their way to help their opponents back into the game, parting like the Red Sea for Croatia’s first and standing like statues as the second unfolded around them.

“We took the decision to go backwards on and off the ball, so we played way too many balls backwards,” Tuchel later explained. “We played way too many balls back to our goalkeeper. We didn’t dare to eliminate, we didn’t dare to play through the gaps.”

Instead of ranting and raving, Tuchel allowed for a few moments of calm before sitting down to be at eye-level with his players.

Reports, citing eyewitnesses at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, said scores of fans had breached security and entered the venue without any sort of check.

One witness told Mail Sport: “There were big gaps at the side of the ticket barriers and people just strolled through. There were volunteers who were basically old ladies and they weren’t stopping anyone.”

A spokesperson for Fifa said: “At this stage, we have no indication of fans entering the stadium without a valid match ticket for the game in question.”

Thomas Tuchel has called on Fifa to intervene after complaining that photographers “ruined” what was an “emotional moment” of his first England national anthem at a World Cup.

“I have to tell you something, I am begging Fifa to change the position of the photographers in the national anthem because I could not see my team in the national anthem,” he said.

“I was waiting for this moment. It was a very, very special moment today and I was standing in front of a wall of 50 photographers, half a metre away, and I could not see one single player. It ruined a little bit my experience.

“It is very emotional. When I was young and when I started coaching, this was too big to dream of this kind of occasion.”

England were pegged back twice in the first-half in Dallas, with Tuchel’s assistant Anthony Barry criticising the players in an interview with ITV at half-time, describing their display as “complicated and confusing.”

Yet the Three Lions came out in the second-half a team reinvigorated. Jude Bellingham put them back in front with a wonderful solo goal and Tuchel’s side could have been out of sight if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

Declan Rice is a minor injury concern for England following their opening win against Croatia.

But there was some concern when Rice left the field in the second half, having been seen clutching the top of his right leg. Tuchel replaced him with Morgan Rogers and dropped Bellingham back into a deeper role, before later moving Reece James into midfield.

The Three Lions entered the 48-team tournament as one of the favourites following an unbeaten qualifying campaign and after a prolific season from captain and top striker Harry Kane.

As well as Croatia, England will face Ghana and Panama in the group stages but will be plotting a much deeper run at the tournament as they seek to win a second men’s international tournament following runners-up finishes at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.

England were given a half-time shake-up by Thomas Tuchel as they overcame Croatia to win their opening match of the World Cup.

Harry Kane struck twice and Jude Bellingham scored the third moments after the restart. Tuchel then turned to the bench, with Bukayo Saka setting up Marcus Rashford as the Three Lions took charge of Group L thanks to a thrilling 4-2 win.

England’s defence and parts of their midfield were far from convincing, but in captain Kane and Bellingham it’s clear Tuchel has two match-winners who could make the difference this summer.

Here’s how the England players rated after the 4-2 win over Croatia

The biggest tournament in football is finally here.

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A piece on the other big story from yesterday, on a poor day for Ronaldo and Portugal…

Comment: Ronaldo’s goalless display against DR Congo is the latest warning for Roberto Martinez, writes Richard Jolly, though there is little sign that the Portugal manager will take the decision to remove the 41-year-old for the sake of the team