When is England’s opening World Cup game? Date, UK kick-off time, location and venue for Group L clash

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.

Their campaign follows warm-up matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica on June 6 and June 10, respectively.

England’s opening match of this summer’s tournament is 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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ITV1 and ITVX will also have live television coverage of the match in the UK.

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 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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