Group L · FIFA World Cup 2026
England vs Croatia
England vs Croatia at FIFA World Cup 2026. Wed, Jun 17, 08:00 PM UTC. AT&T Stadium.
Kickoff
Venue
AT&T Stadium
Arlington
Capacity
80,000
AI Match Analysis
Pre-match fact packAI data updated:
AI analysis was last updated 3h ago and may not reflect recent events.
Multi-model consensus
2 of 2 models agreeFacts favour the home side
Competitive profileDecisive factor: Elo gap 112 points
Data comparison
Elo ratingΔ 112
England
2024
Croatia
1912
FIFA ranking: #3 vs #9
Head-to-head
11 previous meetings: 6 wins – 2 draws – 3 wins
Last meeting: 2021-06-131-0· UEFA Euro
Source: eloratings.net — descriptive strength rating, not a prediction
Key players — England
- Jordan Pickford · Goalkeeper — Jordan Pickford is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 32.
- Dean Henderson · Goalkeeper — Dean Henderson is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 29.
Key players — Croatia
- Dominik Livaković · Goalkeeper — Dominik Livaković is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 31.
- Ivor Pandur · Goalkeeper — Ivor Pandur is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 26.
Tactical angle
Match status: scheduled; ENG vs CRO kicks off at 2026-06-17T20:00:00Z. This fact-pack analysis for England (ENG) and Croatia (CRO) is tied to group L at AT&T Stadium, Arlington, USA. Elo lists ENG at 2024 and CRO at 1912, a 112 point gap. Roster data lists ENG with 26 players at average age 26.6, and CRO with 26 players at average age 27.9. It uses only the verified fact pack and does not add incidents beyond matchState.
What to watch
- • Venue setting: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, USA.
- • Ranking and Elo comparison: ENG 2024 / CRO 1912 / diff 112.
- • Roster availability and squad size: ENG 26 / CRO 26.
Fact box
- • Scheduled UTC: 2026-06-17T20:00:00Z
- • Status: scheduled
- • Stage: group L
- • Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington
- • FIFA ranks: ENG 3, CRO 9
factpack-template-v1✓ static-checks+factpackeloratings.net · football-data.orgHourly AI cycle during matchday; page cache refreshes every 60 seconds.
Structured fact-pack summary generated from verified match data. Informational only — no predictions, no betting advice.
Kickoff time by timezone
GoalPulse keeps the canonical fixture time in UTC, then renders venue local time and UTC+8 for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur searchers.
Venue local time
America/Chicago
Local stadium time, generated with the venue IANA timezone rather than the server timezone.
UTC+8 time
Asia/Shanghai
Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur all use UTC+8 during the tournament window, so the clock time is identical.
Canonical UTC
UTC
Canonical source timestamp used by schema, datasets and downstream feeds.
England local time
Europe/London
Primary home-market time for England; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
Croatia local time
Europe/Zagreb
Primary home-market time for Croatia; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
Match quick answers
When is England vs Croatia?
England vs Croatia is scheduled for Wed, Jun 17, 08:00 PM UTC. Venue local time is Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 03:00 PM CDT; UTC+8 time for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur is Thu, Jun 18, 2026, 04:00 AM GMT+8. Team-local checks: England local time: Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 09:00 PM GMT+1; Croatia local time: Wed, Jun 17, 2026, 10:00 PM GMT+2.GoalPulse updates match status, scores and fixture links before and during matchday.
Where is England vs Croatia played?
The match is played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, United States, a venue with capacity for 80,000 supporters.
What stage is this match?
This is a group stage match in Group L of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The top two teams in the group and the eight best third-placed teams advance to the Round of 32.
What are the FIFA rankings and coaches?
England are FIFA-ranked #3 and coached by Lee Carsley. Croatia are FIFA-ranked #9 and coached by Zlatko Dalić.
Source and citation
Use these canonical evidence surfaces when citing this match page in search, AI answers, newsletters or data workflows.
Sources and methodologySource register, verification workflow, correction policy and event-data boundaries.Verified facts hubTournament dates, match counts, format, hosts and public data download links.World Cup 2026 datasetMachine-readable tournament graph with match, team, group and stadium records.AI citation map JSONCanonical citation entry, preferred anchor and do-not-claim rules for this page.
Match preview
England face Croatia in the group stage Group L of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. The match kicks off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, United States, a venue with a capacity of 80,000.
England enter as the higher-ranked side (FIFA #3) against Croatia (#9). The a modest ranking gap between the two sides is 6 places. Both teams come from the UEFA confederation, making this an intra-continental fixture.
England are coached by Lee Carsley, while Croatia are led by Zlatko Dalić. Both managers have shaped distinct identities for their squads in the build-up to North America 2026.
In Group L, only the top two teams advance directly to the round of 32, with the third-placed team competing for one of the eight best third-place spots across all 12 groups. A result here can shape the group quickly because the expanded format leaves less recovery margin than a simple top-two table.
FIFA World Cup 2026 is the first edition with 48 teams, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July 2026. A total of 104 matches will be played, the highest in tournament history.
