ARLINGTON, JUNE 18: Harry Kane scored twice in the first half as England eventually saw off Croatia 4-2 to launch their World Cup title assault in Texas on Wednesday.
Jude Bellingham, immediately after half-time, and substitute Marcus Rashford with five minutes to go ensured a winning start for Thomas Tuchel's side after Croatia had fought back to level at 2-2.
The prolific Kane twice put England ahead in the first half -- one a retaken penalty -- only for Martin Baturina and Petar Musa to hit back for 2018 runners-up Croatia.
With both sides shaky at the back, the second half threatened another goal glut, Bellingham needing just two minutes to put England ahead again in front of a crowd of 70,000.
England had numerous chances to extend their lead but did not take them until Rashford popped up to put the seal on a chaotic encounter.
"I thought the game was two halves really," the skipper Kane told ITV.
"I thought first half we were okay. Really disappointed to concede in the way we did, the way we dropped off.
"And credit to the manager. The manager gave us a speech at half-time just to say, look, if we lose, we're losing our way.
"And I think you saw that, the way we come out in the second half, we went full gas, and they couldn't live with it."
The meeting was a repeat of the 2018 semi-final, which Croatia won after extra-time, although England have since had the edge against one of the older squads in North America.
Zlatko Dalic, the Croatia coach who has masterminded much of their recent success, said England's prowess at dead-ball situations had caused numerous problems.
He called it a "strange and difficult" match.
"We made a lot of mistakes, especially when it came to set-pieces," said Dalic, whose side face Panama next and will still fancy their chances of getting out of Group L.
England play Ghana next. �"AFP
