England vs Croatia Bet Builder Tips: Cautious start to be saved by Kane

England’s World Cup 2026 campaign finally kicks off in earnest with their Group L opener against old foes Croatia (3pm local, 9pm BST ITV). The Three Lions fell in their most recent World Cup meeting with tonight’s opponents. No England fan will ever forget the agony of that semi final defeat back in 2018.

Repeat or revenge? Check out my England vs Croatia Bet Builder Tips below.

England vs Croatia Odds

Harry Kane anytime goalscorer

No current Three Lions star feels he weight of the phrase ‘England expects’ quite as acutely as Harry Kane. The Bayern Munich striker is his nation’s captain, all-time top goalscorer and best hope of ending the however-flipping-many years of hurt we’re on three decades post-Lightning Seeds.

But Kane has never seemed unduly bothered by pressure. Over a decade spent as Tottenham’s talisman can prepare a man for anything. Having spent the last three seasons scoring an eye-watering 146 goals in 147 Bayern Munich games, the 32-year-old feels well-fixed to start this World Cup strong. 

Look for Kane to put in a far more confident performance than he managed in that advert where he needs an AI to tell him how to switch a barbecue on.

Half Time Result: Draw

All due apologies to those of you marching up and down the living rooms belting out Fat Les’ terrace anthem. But if you baulk at this leg of the BB, you’ll frigging hate the next one.

The emotional and physical pressure of a World Cup can stiffen the legs and snatch the breath. Particularly if you are a country carrying weighty expectations. Cape Verde could humiliate Spain by virtue of that lack of expectation. 

Croatia are no minnows. Granted, at an 80/1 outright price they are also no longer the force that reached the 2018 final. But Zlatko Dalic’s men are a threat, even if the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric are nearing the end of their storied careers.

I anticipate a tense, tentative 45 minutes that ends in a stalemate. Speaking of things finishing level…

Full Time Result: Draw

Cue up the Peep Show Jez memes: That wasn’t very ‘It’s Coming Home’. But sadly it's how I feel. Imagine if an AI wrote these, you wouldn’t benefit from any of that lovely feeling would you? Also it would swallow an entire Volvic factory’s worth of water just to type the intro.

This England squad has the physiology of a team that will grow into this tournament. The attritional nature of the latter stages are a better fit for this side than the group stage. But if you want some sweet optimism to unleash your inner Keith Allen, think how many eventual World Cup winners have looked merely functional in the groups.

This World Cup has been pretty draw-happy so far, with eight stalemates from the first 20 games. Sides who are at least as good as England have drawn with sides who are inferior to a decent, if creaky, Croatia. I’m backing the draw. It’s still coming home, obviously. But it’s taking the scenic route.