Tactically this was a very strong opening game from England. Taking into account the emotional aspects of the first game, several tournament debuts, and the heat, it was important that England had good control of the game.
The opening 20 minutes in particular were very controlled and following the goal from Raheem Sterling in the 57th minute, there was an excellent period of play. Phil Foden was at the heart of it drifting from his wide right position to link the play and control the tempo of the possession.
England managed the game with the ball and took any threat of an instant Croatian response out of the equation completely. That spell almost culminated in a second goal with Harry Kane unable to convert Mason Mount’s low cross at the far post. Although some of this management of the game with possession was conceded with the substitutions ensuring defensive strength and counter-attacking threat, it may be needed in future games.
Defensive organisation and pressing
England had a clear focus on maintaining their numbers and defensive strength centrally. Harry Kane maintained a central position attempting to screen passes into the deepest of the Croatian midfield players.
The pressure on the Croatian centre-backs generally came from Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling as they cut off the line of pass to the Croatian full-backs encouraging passes into central areas where England had numerical superiority with Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, and Declan Rice in addition to Harry Kane.
Mount and Phillips were excellent at timing their press covering the ground quickly with intensity and aggression. They regained possession in the Croatian half on numerous occasions and also disrupted the tempo and flow of the Croatian build-up. Phillips regained possession in the mid and attacking thirds more than anyone else on the pitch and the pair forced uncharacteristic errors from Luca Modric, Matteo Kovacic, and Marcelo Brozovic.
On the occasions where a pass was quickly bounced from a central midfield player to the spare Croatian full-back, Mount and Phillips would continue their press getting across to the full-back with Sterling and Foden recovering as quickly as possible. The tactical intelligence, energy, and discipline of Mount and Phillips was a key part of the England defensive organisation.
Behind them, Declan Rice was excellent with his positioning and reading of the game. There was a noticeable effort to pressurise Modric quickly particularly on transitions. Both Phillips and Rice were really intense in getting to him quickly and not letting him dictate the game. On several occasions one of those two pressed him quickly giving away fouls that were tactically very beneficial in preventing any quick counter-attacks from Croatia and allowing England to recover back into their defensive shape.
Movement, interchange, and penetration from the front five
Croatia’s defensive structure was largely a 4-4-2 with Luka Modric releasing to join Ante Rebic in the forward line and Andrej Kramaric and Ivan Perisic either side of the pairing of Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic. Declan Rice often looked to create a platform of three in the initial build-up dropping between or on the outside of the England centre backs, unless one of the full backs had narrowed in to do so in which case he would remain higher. With England’s 4-3-3 formation there was an emphasis on trying to occupy the half spaces (the inner corridor) between their defensive and midfield lines. This caused Croatia problems and posed questions their defensive responsibilities.
Down England’s left side Kieran Trippier predominantly played deep in support of Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling, also moving inside at times to open the lines of pass directly into either player. Both Mount and Sterling provided a running threat in behind the Croatian defence, with long passes from Trippier looking into the space behind Sime Vrsaljko for both of them inside the opening 7 minutes. The interchange and understanding of Mount and Sterling was a key feature of the attacking play down this side. When Sterling maintained his width, Mount would provide support angles inside or make runs into the spaces created by the Croatian full-back pressing Sterling.
On England’s right side Kyle Walker also predominantly supported from behind and would move into an inverted full-back position when required as he does so comfortably for Manchester City, Kalvin Phillips would occupy the half space and Phil Foden would provide the width.
The more common variation on this side was for Kalvin Phillips to pull wider into a false full-back position, Phil Foden to drift inside into the half space, and Kyle Walker to push higher and wider looking to get in behind Josko Gvardiol.
The pass 🤩The finish 😎What a moment at @wembleystadium! pic.twitter.com/u0EGqdxA4zJune 13, 2021
The winning England goal was a culmination of several of these factors. Patient build-up play had seen England work the ball from right to left where Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount rotated with Sterling moving inside following his pass, and Mount pulling outside to provide the width. As the ball was transferred back to the right Kyle Walker received in a narrow position and released a pass into the half space for Kalvin Phillips. When Phillips came inside and released the brilliantly weighted pass it was to the onrushing Raheem Sterling who was able to run into the space created by Harry Kane’s unselfish movement from the opposite half space position.
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