What time is England vs Croatia? Date, UK kick-off time, stadium and squads for Three Lions’ World Cup opener

England fans will have to wait until day seven of the 2026 World Cup for their first match of the tournament.

England are among the favourites for glory this summer with Thomas Tuchel now at the helm.

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The Three Lions have been drawn into Group L alongside Croatia, Ghana and Panama.

Before their opener, England beat New Zealand in a lowkey warm-up tie before impressing in a 3-0 friendly win over Costa Rica.

All focus is now on England’s opening match of this summer’s tournament when they come up against Croatia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

England vs Croatia: Date and how to follow

The Three Lions face Croatia on Wednesday, June 17, with kick-off at 9pm BST.

It is taking place at the 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium, home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

It is being held on Day 7 of the tournament and will take place after the Group K tie between Portugal and DR Congo in Houston at 6pm.

The second Group L match of Ghana v Panama in Toronto will follow England’s game at midnight.

Uzbekistan v Colombia in Mexico City is the fourth and final match of a busy Day 7 and kicks off at 3am UK time.

talkSPORT will have live commentary from Texas.

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Adrian Durham will be the host before commentary from Jim Proudfoot and former England captain Stuart Pearce.

Tune in to talkSPORT through the website via the live stream or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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ITV1 and ITVX will also have live television coverage of the match in the UK from 8pm.

Mark Pougatch present with punditry from Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright.

England vs Croatia: Head-to-head

Their latest clash will be the 12th meeting between England and Croatia.

The Three Lions have won six of their last 11 matches, drawing twice and losing on three occasions.

England’s only previous World Cup encounter with Croatia came in the semi-finals in 2018.

Croatia progressed to their first-ever final after coming from behind to win 2-1 after extra-time.

Since that match, England are unbeaten against their group stage opponents, including winning the last two matches.

Their most recent clash came at Euro 2020, with England winning 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.

The two sides will meet again in October and November in the Nations League.

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England v Croatia: Squads

England

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), James Trafford (Man City).

Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), John Stones (Man City), Marc Guehi (Man City), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Nico O’Reilly (Man City), Djed Spence (Tottenham), Tino Livramento (Newcastle).

Midfielders: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ivan Toney (Al Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), Noni Madueke (Arsenal).

Manager: Thomas Tuchel

Croatia

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Kotarski (Copenhagen), Ivor Pandur (Hull).

Defenders: Josko Gvardiol (Man City), Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad), Josip Sutalo (Ajax), Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Marin Pongracic (Fiorentina), Martin Erlic (Midtjylland), Luka Vuskovic (Hamburg).

Midfielders: Luka Modric (AC Milan), Mateo Kovacic (Man City), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad), Martin Baturina (Como), Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg), Petar Sucic (Inter Milan), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Toni Fruk (Rijeka).

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Orlando City), Petar Musa (Dallas), Igor Matanovic (Freiburg).

Manager: Zlatko Dalic

England vs Croatia: What’s been said?

Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel gave his immediate reaction to the World Cup draw back in December.

Speaking to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, he explained: “Difficult group, difficult opening match against Croatia, who were a top seed in Pot Two.

“Ghana from Pot Four are a regular in World Cups and Semenyo and Kudus play in the Premier League with a lot of quality.

“Panama is a bit of the unknown, we don’t know a lot about them now, but we will know a lot about them in June.”

As for the challenge of facing Croatia, Tuchel added: “They are a top team, ranked tenth in the world and a regular in finals and semi-finals.

“It straight away starts with a difficult opponent and challenge.”

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