Croatia's World Cup Opener: A Critical Test Against England

Zlatko Dalic knows exactly what is coming in Dallas. England first, everything else after. For a Croatia side patched together by hope, reputation and a few ice packs, the World Cup opener is not just a starting point. It is a fault line.

“Maybe, because the first game can destroy everything,” he admitted when asked if he would rather see England later in the group.

It was a revealing line from a coach who has spent six years living on the edge of tournaments, riding deep runs while juggling tired legs and ageing stars.

He has history on his side, and scars too. At Euro 2024, Croatia were blown away 3-0 by Spain in their first match and never truly recovered. Contrast that with 2018, when a confident win over Nigeria set the tone for a run to the final, or 2022, when a tight draw with Morocco formed the base of another long campaign. Dalic has seen how an opening game can set a narrative that refuses to shift.

This time, the narrative is already complicated.

Injuries, rust and a thin core

Croatia’s 2-1 win over Slovenia in Varazdin, their final friendly before flying to the US, brought a measure of relief but very few answers. Dalic left the touchline with more questions than he would like to have 10 days out from facing one of the tournament favourites.

Mateo Kovacic and Josip Gvardiol, both from Manchester City, are only just returning from injury. They are central to everything Croatia want to be: Kovacic as the carrier and link between lines, Gvardiol as the defender who can step out and calm a storm with one pass. Both, Dalic knows, are short of where they need to be.

“Kovacic, Gvardiol and Modric didn’t play much for a long time and they are not in optimal form,” he said. “Especially Kovacic, he hardly played this season and now we need him. It’s not easy and we need time. Gvardiol is now back but I know they are not at the optimal level. We don’t have a big roster and these are some of our most important players.”

That last sentence hangs heavy. Croatia’s golden era has always walked a tightrope between quality and depth. The first part remains; the second is under strain. When the core creaks, there is no like-for-like replacement line forming behind them.

Modric masked, but still decisive

Luka Modric, as ever, sits at the heart of it all. In Varazdin he wore a protective mask, a stark reminder of the fractured cheekbone he is nursing, yet he still found time and space to score a beautifully taken goal. Even with reduced minutes and reduced sharpness, his technique cut through the game.

He is 38, short of match rhythm and still the man Croatia look to when the ball feels heavy. Dalic knows the risk. He also knows there is no alternative if Croatia are to trouble England in Dallas and anyone else beyond that.

This is the trade-off: a team that has gone to the well with the same leaders for two World Cups and a Euros now asking them to do it again, without the luxury of easing into the tournament.

England again, but a different England

Dalic could have leaned on nostalgia. He was on the touchline in 2018 when Croatia broke England hearts in Moscow, winning that World Cup semi-final in extra time. He chose not to.

Any suggestion of lingering English trauma was brushed aside. Since that night, England have beaten Croatia twice, and this version of Gareth Southgate’s side arrives with more talent, more expectation and a longer runway of preparation.

“A very strong team whose league is the best in the world and who play very offensive, very fast,” Dalic said. “We will have to do something more.”

England have been in the US for a while already, settling into the heat and the time zone. They set up camp in Miami before heading to Dallas, building the sort of controlled environment Croatia simply do not have the numbers to replicate. Dalic sounded almost admiring when he spoke of their lengthy preparation, the kind of detail that hints at the scale of the task.

Croatia, by contrast, are racing the clock. They are trying to sharpen Modric, rebuild Kovacic, reintroduce Gvardiol and knit it all together in time for a game their head coach openly describes as potentially “destroying”.

A knife-edge opener

There is no talk of rotation, no quiet suggestion that a draw would be enough. Dalic framed England as a challenge to be met head-on, not an obstacle to be tiptoed around.

“We can’t choose anything else now. The first game is the most important game. Against England we’ll fight, try to do our best and try to win.”

That is the reality. Croatia do not arrive in the US as the surprise package any more. They arrive as serial overachievers, third in 2022, runners-up in 2018, judged now by whether they can do it again with a core that has already given so much.

The opener in Dallas will not just reveal how far Modric, Kovacic and Gvardiol have come in their recovery. It will show whether this Croatian cycle has one more deep run left in it, or whether that first whistle really can, as Dalic fears, destroy everything.