England vs Croatia World Cup Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - England to register another win to nil

And so it all begins again. England are back at the World Cup, targeting their first piece of major tournament silverware since prevailing on home soil all the way back in 1966. This time, a German manager is in charge, with Thomas Tuchel making several controversial squad selections, including leaving out the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Harry Maguire. The Three Lions haven't been convincing in warm-up friendlies, losing to Japan and barely beating New Zealand, but they didn't concede a single goal during qualifying and look well equipped to deal with an aging Croatian side here.

Indeed, half of Croatia's six forwards in their squad are 34 years or older, while Luka Modric captains the side from midfield at 40. Croatia beat England in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, but a meek group stage exit at Euro 2024 suggests their best days are behind them.

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At the end of the day, England have won 11 of their 14 games under Tuchel and their last 13 victories have been accompanied by a clean sheet. As such, an England win to nil appeals, while you can't ignore odds of $2.30 for Harry Kane to find the back of the net.

It was a nice way to shrug off the disappointment of another major tournament heartbreak, which saw the Three Lions go down 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

However, it hasn't been exactly smooth sailing in the build-up to the World Cup - after a 0-0 draw with Uruguay, England were beaten by Japan 1-0 and only just edged out New Zealand 1-0. A 3-0 win over Costa Rica last time out restored some confidence and momentum.

Jude Bellingham should start over Morgan Rogers, while it remains to be seen who will form the central defensive pairing ahead of Jordan Pickford, with Ezri Konsa, John Stones and Marc Guehi all in the running.

Especially when Croatia's performances at major tournaments are getting progressively worse - although a semi-final final run at Qatar 2022 was obviously brilliant, a group stage exit at Euro 2024 was extremely disappointing.

Two years later, it's tough to see Croatia making a big impact at this World Cup - they benefitted from an easy group to qualify comfortably, but lost warm-up games to Brazil and Belgium, highlighting that perhaps this team has seen better days.

Dallas striker Petar Musa scored 12 goals in 13 games in the MLS and could start up front given his familiarity with North American conditions.

Josko Gvardiol remains the most expensive defender in history and will take his place at the back.

Watch and bet on England vs Croatia live football from the World Cup.

You can watch and bet on the match live at bet365 > Soccer > World Cup 2026 with the action available to stream on desktop and mobile.