2026 World Cup: Probable line-ups for the England vs Croatia showdown

17.06.26 FT World Cup

England

4

:

Croatia

2

This Wednesday, June 17 (8pm GMT), England and Croatia face off in a high-profile clash on Matchday 1 of Group L at the World Cup. Let’s take a look at the likely starting XIs for both teams.

Thomas Tuchel has left out several players from his squad selection for this 2026 World Cup, including Maguire, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Palmer, Gallagher, and Bowen. The omission of some of these names has drawn criticism back in England.

World Cup 2026: The official and complete group stage schedule

Zlatko Dalic, meanwhile, has not called up Majer, Ivanovic, Sosa, or Juranovic. However, he can still rely on a solid squad led by AC Milan’s tireless midfield maestro, Luka Modric.

The two sides have only met once before in a World Cup finals. Croatia came out on top (2-1 after extra time) in Russia 2018 to book their ticket to the final, where they eventually fell to France.

Probable line-ups:

England: Pickford - James, Konsa, Guéhi, O'Reilly - Bellingham, Rice - Saka, Rogers, Rashford - Kane.

Croatia: Livakovic - Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol - Stanisic, Modric, Kovacic, Perisic - Mario Pasalic, Kramaric - Budimir.

Imed Ben Amara |

Editorar, fr

Imed Ben Amara - bilingual sports writer and web editor with experience in football content creation. Since 2021, he has contributed to Foot Africa, providing news coverage and analysis.

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