England’s best five World Cup openers

Thomas Tuchel’s side enjoyed a thrilling victory over Croatia to kickstart the FIFA World Cup 2026.

It was a dream start for England as they overcame Croatia 4-2 in their opening Group L match to spark their latest World Cup campaign to life.

Harry Kane continued his fine goalscoring season and was at the double with a first-half brace, before Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford made sure of the three points.

It was another memorable start to a World Cup tournament for the Three Lions, who have often impressed in their opening game of the tournament.

That got us thinking - what are the best opening matches in England’s World Cup history?

England 2-1 Tunisia (2018)

The Three Lions headed into their first major tournament under Gareth Southgate, who had been appointed two years earlier in preparation for the World Cup in Russia.

Grouped with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G, England began their quest for glory against the latter.

Three of the starting eleven in Wednesday’s win over Croatia were in the team against Tunisia, and their World Cup story once again began with a Harry Kane brace.

But it was not as straightforward as the Croatia result, as England were forced to dig deep late on to seal the three points.

Kane opened the scoring after eleven minutes, just one minute earlier than he did against Croatia, before Tunisia drew level with a penalty in the 35th minute.

However, Kane was on hand late on to head home the winner in added time, sparking celebratory scenes at the Volgograd Arena and across the nation.

England 6-2 Iran (2022)

Welcome to the World Cup, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham!

Arsenal sensation Saka, aged just 21 at the time, scored twice in a resounding 6-2 victory on his World Cup debut to become England’s third-youngest World Cup goalscorer at the time.

He would have been the second youngest behind Michael Owen, but a 19-year-old Bellingham - another World Cup debutant - pipped him to it when he opened the scoring for England after 35 minutes.

Saka scored the second, before Raheem Sterling made it 3-0 to the Three Lions on the stroke of half-time.

Double the number of goals were scored in the second half, as Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish got in on the act, while Saka grabbed his second on his World Cup debut.

Iran got two goals on the board in the second half, but they would only go down as consolation strikes with England far superior in their Qatar opener.

England 3-1 France (1982)

It might not have been their biggest victory in terms of goals, but beating France in the opening game of the 1982 World Cup in Spain was certainly one of their greatest.

And it was not just a fast start to the tournament for the Three Lions, but an electric start to the game. Bryan Robson scored after just 28 seconds, which stands as the fourth fastest World Cup goal to this date.

France managed to peg a goal back 23 minutes later, but the Manchester United midfielder struck again to put England back in front.

Paul Mariner, then of Ipswich Town, made sure of the three points when he added a third in the late stages, as the result helped Ron Greenwood’s side progress to the second group stage.

England 4-2 Croatia (2026)

England’s opening result of the 2026 World Cup was certainly a high point in the Three Lions’ history at the tournament.

Not only was it Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge of England, but it was his first game at a major tournament as a national team head coach.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss oversaw England’s third-highest scoring opening World Cup game.

It was memorable for a variety of reasons, as Kane equalled Gary Lineker’s record for most England World Cup goals (ten), while Saka reached his 50th cap at the age of 24.

England 4-4 Belgium (1954)

The Croatia victory was the third-highest scoring opening World Cup game, but a blockbuster eight-goal thriller against Portugal was number one in this category.

England may not have won the game, but it earns a spot in this list after going down as one of the wildest and most thrilling games in the tournament’s history.

After falling behind to an early Belgium opener in front of just 14,000 fans at St. Jakob Stadium in Basel, Ivor Broadis and Nat Lofthouse both scored twice for England.

But they could not keep Belgium at bay, as they forced extra time under the unique rules of the 1954 tournament, which saw an extra 30 minutes added on for group stage draws.

Lofthouse thought he had won the game for England just two minutes into extra time, but a cruel Jimmy Dickinson own goal three minutes later meant the points were shared - because penalty shoot-outs did not exist!