England’s seemingly never-ending quest to land the World Cup crown starts once again tomorrow night when they face Croatia in Arlington.
The Three Lions reached the quarter-finals in Qatar four years ago, losing to then defending champions France, while they went one step further in Russia in 2018 before losing to Croatia in the last four.
There has also been two European Championship final defeats in the last five years as silverware continues to elude them.
Thomas Tuchel has been drafted in to replace Gareth Southgate with the FA hoping his reputation as a winner at club level will translate to success on the international stage.
Qualification for the World Cup was impressive with eight wins and eight clean sheets but some of the recent performances have left a little to be desired as Tuchel experimented to find the right combinations.
The March international break brought a draw with Uruguay and a defeat to Japan while the warm-up games in Florida against New Zealand and Costa Rica were not without flaws.
The two most recent matches have given an indication as to Tuchel’s thinking for the first game with the main surprise his apparent preference for a central defensive pairing of Ezri Konsa and the fit-again John Stones with Marc Guehi relegated to the bench.
Stones had another injury-plagued season at Manchester City and admitted he even considered retirement in October.
“It was a difficult period when I said that [about retiring] and I hope I don’t get to that again,” Stones told BBC Sport.
“We can all compare ourselves to all the people or different players, different eras and think about how their journey was or how it could have been different and I am a culprit of that – ‘why are these things happening to me? It doesn’t happen to other people’.
“And I really had to dig deep and I am proud of myself for being so mentally strong throughout and coming out the other end of those scenarios or situations.
“I feel like one of my greatest achievements is to keep coming back from those setbacks, no matter how big they are and being on top form and going back into games and playing at such a high level.”
Croatia have a team full of experience, led by the evergreen Luka Modric.
The 40-year-old enjoyed an impressive debut season at AC Milan and still possesses enough craft to trouble any defence.
Croatia won’t be lacking motivation with their leading sports newspaper Sports Novosti outlining the country’s dislike for the English and what they perceive to be the arrogant dismissal of a country that reached the semis in 2022 and the final in 2018.
An editorial this morning read: “There is no bigger match for Croatians than England. When they brag and overestimate themselves – they think they are world champions – the motivation jumps to the sky and the desire to win is greater than against anyone.
“History repeats itself and the Three Lions do not perceive Croatia as a team that finished second and third in the world, as well as making them cry in the semi-finals, but a team that is from the B rank of nations whose target is simply to reach the World Cup.”
Team news for England v Croatia
Tino Livramento has withdrawn from the squad due to a calf injury and will return to Newcastle for treatment. Chelsea centre-half Trevoh Chalobah has been called up but won’t be considered for this game. Jude Bellingham has reportedly won the battle with Morgan Rogers for the number 10 berth.
Croatia have a fully fit squad with coach Zlatko Dalic’s main headache deciding whether to choose Petar Musa or Andrej Kramaric up front.
