England finally began their World Cup campaign on Wednesday, beating Croatia 4-2 in Dallas with Marcus Rashford representing Manchester United.
It was a bit of a thriller as England kicked off their 2026 World Cup campaign in a repeat of the 2018 semi-finals against Croatia.
Harry Kane scored twice as Jude Bellingham got one of his own in a 4-2 win for England, and Marcus Rashford was flying the Manchester United flag.
Rashford came off the bench in the 70th minute, replacing a poor Anthony Gordon, and here is how he fared upon his introduction.
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Marcus Rashford scores the fourth goal for England
Rashford joined the fray at 3-2 with the clear intention to see out the win, but he did this by adding another goal instead of merely holding on.
England sat back and soaked up so much pressure from Croatia for much of the second half before a counterattack saw Djed Spence and Bukayo Saka combine down the right, with the Arsenal winger then cutting inside to find a pass to Rashford.
Rashford picked it up on the edge of the area, checked back inside, and placed it into the bottom corner with a trademark finish for his 19th in an England shirt.
It was yet another cameo for the United winger, which should have Thomas Tuchel rethinking his decision to start Gordon, and it should also see Barcelona wondering why they didn’t trigger the £26m buy option.
Not only did he get the goal, but Rashford also contributed a lot defensively during the moments of Croatia pressure, tracking back well and putting in a shift for the team.
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