England began their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in Dallas. The Three Lions produced a much-improved second-half display to secure all three points and make a positive start to the tournament.
Harry Kane scored twice during the contest, while Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford also found the net. However, England did not have everything their own way.
Croatia twice fought back during the first half and exposed several weaknesses before the break. England eventually responded after half-time and showed their quality when it mattered most.
The result placed Thomas Tuchel‘s side in a strong position ahead of their second Group L fixture against Ghana in Boston.
However, the England manager must now find a way to keep his entire squad prepared during a lengthy gap between matches.
England have six days between their clash with Croatia and the upcoming meeting with Ghana.
As a result, Tuchel has decided to take an unusual approach to maintain fitness levels across the squad.
Speaking ahead of the next stage of the tournament, Tuchel confirmed that England will play another behind-closed-doors friendly in Kansas City on Thursday.
According to ESPN, discussions are taking place with MLS side Sporting Kansas City, although the opponents have not yet been finalised. Tuchel explained:
“It is true that we try to play an in-house match after the match against Croatia. It is simply to use the time.
“We have many days in between the matches and we can give the players who have not played so many minutes tomorrow just a load and an actual match load and not only from training.
“We did this after the match against Costa Rica and I think we will do it one last time on the day after the Croatia game.”
England previously followed a similar plan after their victory over Costa Rica. The team faced Miami FC at their West Palm Beach training base and secured a 6-0 win.
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