Eight years on and Moscow still won’t leave: England vs Croatia, Dallas, June 17 AT&T Stadium, Dallas · Wednesday 17 June 2026 · 9pm BST
Soon as the draw was made in December and Croatia came out of the pot alongside England in Group L, nobody bothered with analysis. No one was checking the fixture calendar or running expected goals projections. It was just one word. Thousands of posts, same word. Moscow.
Eight years. It does not feel like eight years.
June 17. Dallas. Lose this and the whole thing gets complicated before it’s even started. Ghana and Panama to follow, neither of them particularly frightening on paper, but both carrying extra weight if England are already chasing. Win and the path through the group is about as straightforward as a World Cup gets. Two years of Tuchel’s work, all those clean sheets through qualifying, eight games building toward one Tuesday evening in Texas.
For the full breakdown of the squad heading to Dallas and who makes the plane, see our England World Cup 2026 squad prediction, and for a detailed look at all three Group L opponents, our England World Cup group 2026 analysis covers Ghana and Panama alongside Croatia.
MOSCOW, 2018
Nobody in their right mind had Trippier scoring that free-kick. He hadn’t got one in for club or country in over two years. Spurs barely let him near them with Eriksen around. And then there he was, five minutes into a World Cup semi-final, curling it from 25 yards right into the top corner at the Luzhniki. The noise in that stadium, players said afterwards they could still feel it at half-time. Still hear it.
They were winning. England were actually winning a World Cup semi-final, this young side that had no business being there according to most people before the tournament, and for about an hour they were completely on top. Croatia looked done. Running on fumes. An entire half of football and the Croatians managed to put the ball on target once.
But then football does what football does.
Perisic equalised on 68 minutes. The ball hit his arm on its way in and in a world without VAR there was no conversation. It stood. 1-1. Croatia had found something from somewhere that England had not been able to find even when they were the better side, and the momentum of the evening shifted in the space of four seconds.
Extra time. England’s legs were going. Croatia’s were not. 109th minute, Stones and Walker both just… stood there and watched a ball bounce when one of them needed to deal with it, and Mandzukic was right in the gap that opened up, and it was 2-1 before anyone could react. Look it up. 108 minutes and three seconds. Latest goal England have ever let in at a World Cup. There was no coming back from that.
The stats after the final whistle told you everything about how differently the game went once Trippier sat back down on the bench. Croatia put up 22 shots. England had 11. Seven of Croatia’s were on target. England’s? One. Just the one, the free-kick, across 120 minutes of football. That was it.
The walk across the pitch. Southgate with his players. You think about 1990, about Gazza. You think about Southgate’s own penalty in ’96, Beckham seeing red in ’98, and then you add this one to the pile. Another one to carry.
Mandžukić 109′
World Cup 2018
THE FULL RECORD
The 2018 result sits differently from the actual head-to-head record, which is worth putting in front of people who only remember Moscow.
Nine meetings between these two sides, across competitive football and friendlies. England have come out on top five times, Croatia three, one draw. The real rough patch was 2007/08 qualifying. Croatia did them twice, and the second one, that Wembley night in the rain with McClaren on the touchline under his umbrella, knocked England out of Euro 2008 qualification altogether and ended his reign the same evening.
But flip it around. England thumped Croatia 5-1 in 2009 qualifying, one of those results that actually felt like something at the time. And the Euro 2020 opener, England 1-0, Sterling with the goal, no drama, no late equaliser. Just three points, thankyouverymuch.
World Cups specifically though: Croatia one, England zero. Dallas is where that changes, or it doesn’t.
CROATIA IN 2026
This is not 2018.
Rakitic called it quits on international football a while back. Mandzukic, same. Lovren, gone. Perisic at 37 is nowhere near this squad. Almost the entire generation from Moscow has moved on, and what’s replaced them is a side still built around Modric at 40, still going, now at AC Milan after his time at Real Madrid wrapped up, still the one player who makes their whole midfield make sense.
This is Modric’s fifth World Cup. He said before the tournament that it is probably his last. The farewell framing hangs over Croatia’s campaign and the Dallas opener is the biggest game of it.
There are still players here who can hurt you. Kramaric put away six goals in qualifying and he’s 34. Sucic at 23 has had a really good season in La Liga, probably Croatia’s most promising younger player for years. Kovacic is back from Achilles surgery, 111 caps, you know what he is, but whether he’s fully himself at this stage of his recovery shapes how well Croatia control the middle of the pitch. And then there’s Gvardiol, who broke his leg late in the club season. Whether he’s fit for June 17 is genuinely the biggest question Dalic has to answer. His whole defensive setup depends on the answer.
Dalic’s had the squad out in Orlando for two weeks preparing. He described the England match as “a fantastic occasion.” He is not turning up in Dallas to make up the numbers.
ENGLAND IN 2026
Eight qualifying games. Eight wins. Not a single goal given away in 720 minutes of football, which is the kind of record that gets you first through the European qualifying door, which is exactly what happened. The first time in a good while where what Tuchel’s doing actually makes sense and feels sustainable going into a summer. We looked at whether this squad is genuinely ready in our full Tuchel’s England World Cup verdict, and for everything that has come before this moment, our complete England World Cup history covers every campaign since 1966.
The system is clear. High press, 4-2-3-1 that morphs into a 4-3-3 when they’re on the ball, everything funnelled through Kane, with Saka, Bellingham and Rice doing the damage around him. When that group is fit and sharp and playing together, they’re a completely different animal from whatever turned up against Uruguay and Japan in March. That was fringe players, forget those results. Dallas gets the proper team.
The concern has been injuries. Saka’s Achilles has been managed carefully. Rice similarly. Timber’s season is done. The squad, fully fit, is good enough to win this group comfortably. The question is whether they’re actually fully fit.
WHERE THE GAME IS WON
Kane against Croatia’s central defenders. Gvardiol was the player Dalic built his back four around. Without him, the question of who handles Kane in the air and on the shoulder becomes more interesting. England getting Kane turned and facing goal early is the priority.
Rice and Anderson against Modric. If Modric gets time on the ball, Croatia become a different team. The pass range, the delivery from set pieces, the ability to change tempo. Rice and Anderson need to press him early and not give him the ten yards he needs. England pressing Modric into mistakes is the tactical instruction that shapes the first hour.
Saka against Croatia’s left side. Perisic’s era is over. The left back position for Croatia going into this game is a question mark. Saka isolated on that side, one-on-one, is the matchup England want to engineer as often as possible.
Set pieces. Croatia have conceded from them in the knockout rounds this season. England scored 17 Premier League goals from corners this season. Every dead ball in the Dallas afternoon is a scoring opportunity for England and a problem for a Croatian defensive structure that is already missing its most important player.
PREDICTION
England win this. This squad is a step above the 2018 version, they’ve gone into this tournament knowing exactly what they are, and the Croatia side Dalic is bringing to Dallas is not the one that found something extra in that semi-final in Moscow. Modric’s farewell is a real thing and he will have moments in Dallas. He always does. But Kane at a World Cup under a manager who understands exactly how to use him, Bellingham in his prime, Saka back from injury and motivated, Rice anchoring the midfield.
The 2018 semi-final was real and the hurt of it was real. Eight years of carrying it counts for something in terms of how England’s players approach this afternoon. But that England team was Southgate’s. This one is Tuchel’s. Win in Dallas and the group opens up. That is the only plan.