JAKARTA - England coach Thomas Tuchel said his players overcame nervousness and the psychological fear of losing the lead to beat Croatia 4-2 at the Dallas Stadium (AT&T Stadium) on Thursday, June 18, 2026 WIB.
The Three Lions started their 2026 World Cup campaign with an impressive victory, but were twice pegged back in the first half.
Harry Kane's penalty in the 12th minute put them ahead before Martin Baturina equalised in the 36th minute.
Kane headed in from Declan Rice's corner to put England back in front, but Petar Musa equalised for Croatia in the first-half injury time, finishing off a well-organised move.
However, England improved significantly in the second half and Jude Bellingham's superb free-kick put them ahead again before substitute Marcus Rashford completed the scoring with a low curling shot five minutes before the end.
"I think we were a little nervous. Maybe we wanted to overdo it, but we obviously thought too much about our decisions."
"We took too long to make decisions. When we could play short passes, we played long passes. When we could play long passes, we played short passes."
"We couldn't find the real rhythm in our game and even in defense we took too long to decide to play as one block in high pressure."
"We spent too much time in a tight defense, which is not our identity and not what we want," said Tuchel.
Tuchel said that being two goals up also did not seem to help his team play more freely.
"I got the impression more that we have to protect something now, be punished for it, which is not easy psychologically, but I liked the reaction after the break."
"We encouraged them to attack, to play with more courage, to be themselves, and as I said, I liked their reaction," he said.
Regardless, Tuchel allayed concerns over Rice's injury, who was withdrawn 18 minutes before the end of the game after signalling a problem.
"Declan had some unusual ball losses and I saw a little discomfort. I asked him and he pointed directly to his lower back, the top of his hamstring, that he felt uncomfortable."
"I don't want to take any risks. If I pull Declan out, which I never want to do, but this is the right time to protect him."
"I think Reece James played very well in the midfield. That's all. I hope nothing worse. He just reassured me at the end of the game that he was fine. We'll take care of it. I hope there is nothing to worry about," said Tuchel.
Meanwhile, Kane, who won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia by scoring six goals, has scored 10 World Cup goals, equaling the England national team record set by Gary Lineker from the 1986 and 1990 tournaments.
Kane also became the second English player, alongside David Beckham, to score at three World Cups.
The Bayern Munich striker praised Tuchel for the change in performance in the second half.
"Praise for the manager. The manager gave us a speech at half-time, just to say if we lose, yes we lose, but we lose in our own way."
"You saw how we played in the second half, we played with passion. They couldn't match it and that's the level we have to set in every game."
"Praise for everyone. First game of the tournament. An amazing result against a tough team," Kane said.
Tuchel also spoke of emotion on the occasion, coaching at his first World Cup after a dramatic rise in his club career, which began at FC Augsburg II before going on to coach at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich.
"I have to tell you something. I beg FIFA to change the position of the photographer during the national anthem because I can't see my team during the national anthem."
"I've been waiting for this moment. It's a very, very special moment. I'm standing in front of a wall with 50 photographers, half a meter away, and I can't see any of the players."
"It was a little bit damaging for my experience. It was very emotional. When I was young and when I started training, a chance like this was too big to dream of," said Tuchel.
England will next face Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts, in Group L on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 WIB, the same as when Croatia played against Panama in Toronto.
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