Dalić reacts as Croatia fall 4-2 to England in FIFA World Cup clash

Petar Musa

DALLAS, USA – Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić criticised his side’s second-half performance after a 4-2 defeat to England in their FIFA World Cup Group L match in Dallas on Wednesday.

Played in front of 70,389 spectators, the match saw Croatia twice fight back before England secured all three points.

England went ahead in the 12th minute when Harry Kane converted a retaken penalty after Luka Modrić was penalised for fouling Noni Madueke in the box.

Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković initially saved Kane’s first effort, but the penalty was ordered to be retaken after he was judged to have left his line too early.

Croatia responded through Martin Baturina, who levelled matters with an impressive strike from outside the area in the 36th minute.

England regained the lead six minutes later when Kane headed home from a Declan Rice corner.

Petar Musa restored parity for Croatia deep into first-half stoppage time, finishing past Jordan Pickford to send the sides into the break level at 2-2.

England restored their advantage shortly after the restart through Jude Bellingham before Marcus Rashford added a fourth goal five minutes from time to seal the victory.

Speaking after the match, Dalić said Croatia’s display after the interval was below the required standard.

“We played a very bad second half. In the first half, we conceded two goals from two set pieces, the first after a penalty. We didn’t do some things well,” Dalić told HRT.

“We conceded the third goal after a long ball and saw how difficult it was to come back into the game. We reacted poorly to the deep ball and rotated poorly.”

Defender Joško Gvardiol also pointed to a lapse in concentration after the break but stressed that Croatia’s World Cup campaign remains far from over.

“It definitely was not good. We came back twice and knew their quality, but the goal at the start of the second half was not good. It was a drop in concentration,” said Gvardiol.

“Nothing is over. Two more games are left. It is not easy to come back twice and we managed to do it, but it wasn’t enough.”

The result leaves Croatia with work to do in Group L, with two matches remaining as they seek a place in the knockout stages.