JAKARTA - Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic regretted Croatia's failure to deal with the English dead ball after implementing several defensive schemes in the 2-4 defeat in the first match of the 2026 World Cup group stage, Thursday, June 18, 2026 WIB.
Group L started with a bang in Texas as Martin Baturina brilliantly converted Harry Kane's penalty after Luka Modric had brought down Noni Madueke while defending a corner early in the game.
Petar Musa scored the 2-2 equalizer after Croatia allowed Kane to head home from Declan Rice's corner, before Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford secured a 4-2 win for the Three Lions in the second half.
Dalic looked frustrated after the opening Group L match. He was unhappy with his players' inability to overcome the opponent's dead ball prowess.
"Let me first congratulate England on their victory. This match was quite strange, quite difficult, as we expected."
"In the first half, we played quite well. We really made good saves and we really followed everything we had agreed on."
"However, unfortunately we know that dead balls are the biggest danger. We conceded two goals after a corner kick," said the Croatian coach.
Dalic feels Croatia made a lot of mistakes and wants a big improvement against Panama.
"So far we've been pretty good in dead balls. We don't concede easily and we've been training for this opponent. We know how to play England, we know they block and we failed to do what we've been training."
"After the first corner kick, we conceded a goal. After the second dead ball, a player immediately came in and scored again. So, it was a disaster for us, especially when playing against a team like England."
"They are the strongest in terms of goals from dead balls. About 40 percent of their goals come from dead balls. We analyzed the game, we know that."
"We have to be much, much better than our performance against England," he said.
Croatia will face Panama on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, morning WIB, in an effort to maintain the path to the knockout phase.
On the other hand, England will face Ghana on the same day with the ambition to win a second victory and secure their feet in the knockout phase.
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