England Vs Croatia [4–2] – FIFA World Cup 2026: Thomas Tuchel Tactics Overwhelm Luka Modrić & Co. – Tactical Analysis

Two teams with a lot of history met in Dallas for one of the most high-profile matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage.

England have some bad memories against Croatia, who knocked them out in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

England did get some revenge in the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2020, but that loss in Russia is one of many painful memories England is trying to put to bed this summer.

Thomas Tuchel tactics have turned England into the version fans have been desperately waiting to see. 

They were perfect in qualifying, winning all eight matches without conceding a single goal. 

Croatia, on the other hand, came into this World Cup as one of the best offensive teams during qualifying, finishing second behind Norway in total expected goals created.

It turned out to be a fascinating match, but England showed their quality in the second half, completely dominating Kockasti.

This tactical analysis examines England’s in-possession tactics, how they were effective on set-pieces, and why Croatia struggled in build-up. 

England Vs Croatia Lineups & Formations

England Lineup Vs Croatia

Thomas Tuchel lined his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Jordan Pickford started in the net behind the centre-back pairing of Ezri Konsa and John Stones. 

Nico O’Reilly started at left back, while Reece James started at right back.

Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice started together as the two central midfielders.

Anthony Gordon started on the left wing, Jude Bellingham started as the ‘10’, while Noni Madueke started at right wing.

Harry Kane started in his usual place up top as the striker. 

Thomas Tuchel made five substitutions in the match.

In the 72nd minute, Morgan Rogers came on for Rice, Marcus Rashford came on for Gordon, and Bukayo Saka came on for Madueke.

In the 79th minute, Djed Spence entered the match for Bellingham.

The final substitution came in the 87th minute when Marc Guéhi came in for Stones. 

Croatia Lineup Vs England 

Zlatko Dalić lined Croatia up in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Dominik Livaković started in goal behind centre-backs Joško Gvardiol, Luka Vušković, and Josip Šutalo.

Ivan Perišić started at left wing-back, while Josip Stanišić started at right wing-back.

Luka Modrić and Mario Pašalić started as the central midfielders, with Martin Baturina at left wing and Petar Sučić at right wing.

Petar Musa started as the striker.

Dalić made five substitutions in the match.

In the 58th minute, Mateo Kovačić came on for Modrić.

In the 66th minute, Marco Pašalić came on for Vušković, and Igor Matanović came on for Musa.

In the 78th minute, Nikola Vlašić came on for Baturina, and Andrej Kramarić came in for Mario Pašalić.

England In-Possession Tactics

Thomas Tuchel got his tactics absolutely right in this match by using Kane in the same role the forward has played for Bayern Munich this season.

Kane is elite at dropping deep to get on the ball, not only to overload the opposition but also because of his distribution.

Typically, centre-backs won't follow Kane this deep into the pitch, and even if they do, England will play balls over the top, allowing their attackers to run into the space.

This is one of the reasons why Luis Díaz and Michael Olise were so effective at Bayern Munich this season.

When you look at all of Kane's passes from this match, you’ll see he was everywhere as the main distributor for England.

Harry Kane Passes Vs Croatia

Tuchel then put three attackers in Gordon, Bellingham, and Madueke on the pitch specifically because they are well-suited to make runs into the space that Kane creates.

Here is an example of Kane dropping deep and finding Madueke to set up a 3v3 break on Croatia's goal.

Here again, he drops in and switches the play to Madueke on the opposite side of the pitch to set up a dangerous cross into the box.

When England entered the final third, they were really aggressive, trying to put pressure on Croatia's backline.

Both full-backs pushed up to the last line of defence; Anderson dropped into the backline, while Rice acted as the single pivot, creating a 3-1-6 build-up.

Then there were times when they wanted more control, switching to a 4-1-5 with Anderson as the single pivot and Rice dropping into the backline.

All of this variability in build-up allowed England to use positional rotations to get their attackers into 1v1 matchups against Croatia's backline.

The third England goal is a great example of that.

Bellingham dropped in and then drifted out wide.

Instead of trying to control the ball, Anderson played a one-time pass in behind, and Bellingham simply used his pace to beat his man and put it in the back of the net.