World Cup 2026: What we learned from England vs Croatia strategy

England occasionally erred in balance, before playing long into space, passing the ball backwards to tempt Croatia’s pressure.

Anthony Barry, England’s assistant coach, spoke about this at half-time.

“I think a lot of nervous energy early on,” he said. “Then we made some decisions, play long when we should be playing short, play short when we should be playing long, not play in the gaps the way we want to speed up our game.”

By playing early and often too directly, England probably turned the ball over more than they would have liked. This made for a first half that was more end-to-end, leaving spaces for opponents to attack.