World Cup 2026: Lessons learned from England's strategy against Croatia

England's 4-2 victory over Croatia was full of exciting attacks, but the defense worried many as they seemed to open up too much space in some situations. In soccer, the way a team attacks affects how they defend and vice versa, so it's important to evaluate both on-ball and off-ball tactics together. In this article, we will analyze why England look less secure in defense than in previous matches under coach Thomas Tuchel.

Kane drops deep when England lose the ball
In the first half, England conducted many dangerous direct attacks. They do this by first passing the ball back to lure the opponent into pressing high. Declan Rice moved into a wide position, leaving his central position behind, creating space for Harry Kane to drop deep. With Croatia having a high number of players pressing, Kane sought to launch long passes to England's wingers - Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham and Noni Madueke - who were often in three-on-three situations. This led to England creating many big chances but also meant that if they lost the ball in the early attacking build-ups, Kane would be in central defensive areas instead of Rice. This partly explains their defensive instability and can be clearly seen in the example below.

Frequently loses the ball when playing too directly
When trying to pass the ball back to lure Croatia closer, before trying to pass long into space, England sometimes failed to balance the situation. Anthony Barry, England's assistant coach, spoke about this issue at half-time. "I think there was a lot of nervous energy at the beginning of the game," he said. "Then we made some decisions, playing long when we should play short, playing short when we should play long, not playing through gaps to speed up the game the way we wanted." By being too direct early and often, England lost the ball more than they would have liked. This creates a continuous first half, leaving plenty of space for opponents to attack.

Pressing on a large scale causes difficulties for the UK
Having explored why England's tactics on the ball contribute to defensive weaknesses, it is reasonable to look at how they set up without the ball. In the first half, Gordon, Kane and Madueke tried to put pressure on Croatia's three-man defense. When the ball was passed out to Croatia's right-back, Nico O'Reilly had to run a long distance to close. England's willingness to press has led to some problems when they defend close to their own goal. When pressing high, players often lock onto an opposing player in a one-on-one manner. When dropping into a lower defensive shape, England players are often caught in two minds, often choosing to track opposition players rather than defend in a more traditional way. Throughout the game we saw England switch from a back four to a back five when defending, with Elliot Anderson or Rice dropping in. In theory, this would ensure numbers with Croatia's five-man attack. The fifth player reduced the space between England's defense. However, for Croatia's second goal, the five-man formation broke down, possibly because the English players were too reactive to the movements of the opposition players.

In the second half, instead of trying to pressure Croatia's entire defense, England appeared to adjust their pressing, forcing them to one side. This allowed Britain to apply pressure more vigorously. High-pressing teams have often struggled in the World Cup so far but it was encouraging that Tuchel was able to adjust his defensive style mid-match. When defending in a block, close to their own goal, England still need to improve to ensure they are not dragged out by off-the-ball movement. The biggest positive is their improvement when on the ball. Ultimately, if England can control the tempo of the game, dominating the ball for the most part, they will hope that the time they spend near their own goal will be minimized.

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