Join The Club
England take on Croatia in their World Cup 2026 opener as the Three Lions look to avenge their defeat in the 2018 semi-final.
- Date: Wednesday, July 17
- Kick-off time: 9:00pm BST / 4:00pm ET / 6:00am AEST (Thu.)
- FREE Stream: ITV (UK) / SBS (AUS)
- TV & Streaming: Fox (US)
- Watch from anywhere: Get Norton VPN (60-day money back guarantee)
Both sides have high hopes heading into the tournament, with England among the favourites to lift the title after breezing through qualifying by winning all eight games without conceding a goal.
Croatia, who finished in third place four years ago in Qatar and runners-up in 2018, will also believe they can go deep in this tournament having eased through their own qualifying campaign with seven wins out of eight.
England may not have set the world alight with their recent performances in friendlies, but they are a different animal when it comes to tournaments and there is plenty of belief in a squad determined to win a first major men's trophy since 1966.
Croatia, too, know what it takes to excel in major tournaments, especially the six players in the current squad who helped the country reach the World Cup final eight years ago in Russia.
Read on as FourFourTwo brings you all the information you need to watch England vs Croatia in the FIFA World Cup 2026 online, on TV, and from anywhere.
Watch England vs Croatia for FREE
England vs Croatia will be free-to-stream across multiple regions, including ITV in the UK, RTÉ Player in Ireland, SBS On Demand in Australia, CazéTV on YouTube in Brazil, NOS in the Netherlands, VRT in Belgium, SRF/RTS/RSI in Switzerland, and TRT in Turkey.
English commentary will be provided on ITV, RTE Player and SBS On Demand.
‼️ Outside one of these countries? Use Norton VPN to unlock your stream from anywhere in the world — more on that below.
Watch England vs Croatia from anywhere
Away from home this summer and want to watch England vs Croatia ? All you need is a VPN, a handy piece of software that makes your devices appear to be in a different location.
This World Cup, our office friends at TechRadar are recommending Norton VPN:
How to watch England vs Croatia in the UK
In the UK, you can stream England vs Croatia on ITV1.
How to watch England vs Croatia in the US
In the US, you can stream England vs Croatia on Fox.
This channel is accessible via Fox's own streaming platform Fox One or via a cord-cutting platform such as YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, Sling (select markets), Fubo or DirecTV.
How to watch England vs Croatia in Australia
In Australia, you can watch England vs Croatia on the free SBS On Demand.
England vs Croatia: World Cup 2026 Preview
After the heartbreak of consecutive European Championship final defeats, England chose to appoint a serial winner in Thomas Tuchel. The German has delivered success at club level and is seen as the right man to finally lead the Three Lions to World Cup glory.
Tuchel was brutal in his squad selection, leaving out several high-profile names, including Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, but believes the key to winning the tournament is “building a brotherhood”. While team unity will be key to success, perhaps even more important is keeping Harry Kane fit.
The forward arrives on the back of a memorable season with Bayern Munich and remains the most important player for his national side. If Tuchel can find the right supporting cast to get the best from Kane, then England will be confident of starting the tournament with a win and dreaming of reaching the final.
While England hope Tuchel can deliver, Croatia have enjoyed unparalleled success for nearly nine years under Zlatko Dalic. The 59-year-old led them to the 2018 final and the last four in 2022, and will be confident his vastly experienced squad can go again in North America.
There is certainly strength across the park for Croatia. Joško Gvardiol is a colossus at the back, 40-year-old Luka Modric continues to dominate play in the middle of the park and forward Andrej Kramaric offers a genuine goal threat.
The only real question mark is whether the ageing side will be able to cope not only with the intense schedule, but also the extreme heat.
England vs Croatia: Group L
England vs Croatia: Team news
Tomas Tuchel names the same side that started the final warm-up game against Costa Rica, meaning Harry Kane leads the line alongside Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon.
England XI: Pickford, O'Reilly, Stones, Konsa, James; Rice, Anderson, Bellingham; Gordon, Kane, Madueke.
Subs: Burn, Eze, Guéhi, Dean Henderson, Jordan Henderson, Mainoo, Quansah, Rashford, Rogers, Saka, Spence, Toney, Trafford, Watkins
It's also a familiar Croatia starting XI, with the vastly experienced Luka Modric (playing in his fifth World Cup) and Ivan Perisic making up part of a strong four-man midfield.
Croatia XI: Livakovic; Gvardiol, Sutalo, Vuskovic, Stanisic; P. Sucic, Pasalic, Baturina, Modric; Perisic, Musa.
Subs: Budimir, Erlic, Fruk, Jakic, Kotarski, Kovacic, Kramaric, Matanovic, Moro, Pandur, Marco Pasalic, Pongracic, Luka Sucic, Vlasic, Caleta-Car
FAQ
Where is England vs Croatia being played?
England vs Croatia is being played at AT&T Stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 80,000 spectators.
What happened last time England played Croatia at the World Cup?
Croatia beat England in the 2018 semi-finals after coming from one goal down to win 2-1 after extra time.
FourFourTwo's prediction
England 1-0 Croatia
FFT predicts that England’s energy and strength in depth will help them start their World Cup campaign with a narrow victory.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
