World Cup 2026: England kick off in Dallas after big-hitting trio make mark – live

Key events

1h ago

Preamble

In Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, João Neves, Bernardo Silva, Rúben Neves and Samú Costa, Portugal may have the best group of midfielders at the tournament. Fernandes is fresh off his most productive Premier League campaign for Manchester United (nine goals, 21 assists), leading the top flight for chances created (136) and breaking the Premier League record for most assists in a single campaign, edging past Thierry Henry (20 in 2002-03) and Kevin de Bruyne (20 in 2019-20).

I have some exclusive World Cup transfer news to bring to the party.

Australia’s Connor Metcalfe, who was in his country’s victory over Turkey, scoring a fine second goal, is attracting interest from MLS and the UK. Sporting Kansas are very keen on the St Pauli midfielder, I am told.

From Vonzinha to Tim Payne. All you TikTokers, Snapchatters and Bebo users will know a thing or two about this lot.

I am not breaking any confidences here but I watched the France v Senegal match in a pub with the great Tom Garry. We – like Darren Cann – were absolutely flabbergasted that Mbappe was not awarded a penalty having been fouled in the box. Is anyone here backing the ref? He saw plenty of replays on the monitor and someone came up with the wrong decision.

A rather shameful rating of 9 for Messi last night. A cruel blow to his ego.

It is Wednesday, so you can feast upon your weekly dose of The Knowledge.

Socceroos forward Awer Mabil on that viral video.

The reason why it went viral is because it was raw. It was not edited. It was just purely what the players wanted to say and all put together. It had an effect because individually Australians can feel and relate with it.”

Max Rushden and friends are coming in your ears with all the latest from the tournament.

Thomas Partey will not be part of the Ghana team that faces Panama, after he was denied access to Canada.

What Ghana do have is the likes of Antoine Semenyo after putting greater emphasis of attracting players from the diaspora.

Some lad called Messi is top of the Golden Boot list already. Who will hunt him down? Check out the top scorers, thus far.

Portugal open up against DR Congo as the Hors d’oeuvre for England v Croatia, not that anyone in those two countries will see it like that.

It is the sixth time Cristiano Ronaldo has been at a World Cup, which is a rather silly statistics. At 41, does he still have the powers to make a difference?

Ronaldo could wield a huge influence over the trophy’s ultimate destination. It remains to be seen whether that is channelled positively. Portugal can field arguably the best first-choice midfield in this summer’s competition, an experienced defence and an admirable array of wide forwards. At the heart of their attack stands, depending on your perspective, either a free-scoring icon primed to fire them all the way or a 41-year-old passenger whose presence sucks an otherwise fluent team into an inescapable void.

Nick Ames takes a look at the legend.

That is more than enough England material for the timing being, but do not fear, there will plenty throughout the day.

Opponents Croatia have impressed in recent times at the World Cup, reaching a final and semi-final in their past two outings. A key reason for their successes come in the form of 40-year-old Luka Modric, who is still going in the middle of the park and will be plotting England’s downfall.

Aleksandar Holiga on the the great man’s last dance.

There is plenty to get your teeth and eyes into as we prepare for England’s entrance in Dallas.

David Hytner has been listening to Harry Kane’s thoughts on the Three Lions’ chances and his own form.

I’m coming into this tournament in the best way possible; the best place physically and mentally. Throughout a career, there aren’t loads of times when all the pieces of the puzzle will come together at the right moment. Talking now, I feel like I’m in that place.

Thomas Tuchel is about to learn what managing at a major tournament is all about, writes Jacob Steinberg.

After an impressive qualifying campaign, Tuchel is backing England to thrive under the microscope in the US.

Barney Ronay on England shifting the focus from fun to business.

You can sit there playing with your silly little machines as much as you like. I’ll show you a World Cup. Close to a week in, with almost an entire round of cloudless group games in the bag, the coffin lid is starting to creak. By late Monday morning the first little knots of Three Lions shirts could be seen wandering the blank, baking streets of Dallas, blinking in the light. England are at the door. And it’s time for a vibe shift.

We should start with the latest set of results on what was a fascinating day.

Paul MacInnes was in New York/Jersey to see Mbappe lay down the first marker of the day. The Frenchman’s goals mean we will not have to spend our time discussing VAR too much but we certainly will.

The Ewan Murray witnessed Erling Haaland doing what he does best as Norway returned to the biggest stage by pummelling Iraq into submission.

Pablo Iglesias Maurer was on hand to see Lionel Messi’s 200th Argentina appearance, which he celebrated with a hat-trick against Algeria. He will be 39 next week but no one seems to have told him.

Austria required an own goal and late penalty against newcomers Jordan to get their competition up and running.

Preamble

After the tedium of four draws the day before, Tuesday felt like a moment within the context of this World Cup. Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all made their marks with goals in big win for their respective countries. Tournaments need their stars to step up, often it is individuals rather than teams that are remembered for their successes in the history books and three of the globe’s best are threatening to do that again.

The hotly-anticipated England opener comes our way later, as Thomas Tuchel et al aim to end *checks notes* 70 years of hurt. Croatia provide the opponents, having previously caused plenty of harm to wallies with brollies and inflicting a semi-final defeat in Russia eight years ago. Will Harry Kane join his fellow figure heads by proving his class on the biggest stage? One nation certainly hope so.

We will be bringing you all the latest from the World Cup with plenty to look back on but even more to look forward to.