England’s World Cup Opener Against Croatia: Expectations and Controversies
England head into their World Cup opener with Croatia under a cloud of noise, nerves and no little nonsense. The football hasn’t started, but the circus is already in full swing.
Tuchel’s brutal call to Maguire
Thomas Tuchel’s first big World Cup decision was as cold as it was clear: Harry Maguire is not going. The manner of delivery has caused almost as much fuss as the decision itself.
“THOMAS TUCHEL told Harry Maguire he wouldn’t be going to the World Cup over FACETIME,” reported The Sun’s Tom Coley. The medium became the story. As if the choice of screen rather than handset somehow changed the reality for a centre-half who has slipped down the pecking order.
Maguire’s own recounting of the conversation only sharpened the picture. He explained that Tuchel “has gone with the four lads that he got through the qualifying in the autumn camps where he felt like they did well during those six games,” then immediately added: “But he did say that he can’t really give me an excuse.”
The reason and the non-excuse in the same breath. Brutal, but honest. And for England, it leaves a familiar face watching the tournament from home while Tuchel doubles down on the players who carried him through qualifying.
No excuses, only expectations
If there was any doubt about the scale of expectation around this England side, The Sun’s headline for Martin Lipton’s column stripped it away:
“Thomas Tuchel can have no excuses as England get World Cup underway – make the semi-finals at least or he has failed.”
Semi-finals or failure. That’s the line being drawn on the eve of a tournament in which Spain, reigning European champions and one of the favourites, have already been reminded how unforgiving this stage can be. They stumbled in their opener and were quickly recast from inevitable contenders to a team that “still cannot be ruled out of contention for the trophy” after a single draw.
The message to Tuchel is harsher. No bedding-in period, no margin for chaos, no allowance for the reality that major tournaments rarely follow a script. For England, the bar has been nailed to the semi-final line and anything below is branded collapse.
Saka’s “gamble” twisted into “alarm”
On the pitch, Bukayo Saka should be a source of optimism. He has been one of England’s most reliable big-game performers. Instead, his fitness has become another battleground for headlines.
Saka spoke openly on Monday about his physical state, with Tuchel having already warned that “it is very unlikely he starts and finishes all the matches” at the World Cup. That’s hardly shocking when you look at his recent workload. Since mid-March, Saka has started and finished just one match for club or country. He missed the March England squad through injury, started only two of Arsenal’s final seven Premier League games in the title run-in, played less than an hour of their Champions League semi-final second leg, and featured for under half an hour across England’s warm-up games.
Given that backdrop, Saka’s words were measured. He declared himself “ready to go” and “happy to take the gamble” on his fitness for England. A player backing himself on the biggest stage, accepting the risk, trusting his body and his medical team.
The original piece by John Cross in the Daily Mirror reflected that reality with a straightforward headline: “Bukayo Saka ready to take World Cup ‘gamble’ in huge boost to England’s chances.” Then the Daily Express website repackaged it as:
“Bukayo Saka sparks Arsenal concerns with alarming England comments at World Cup.”
The quotes didn’t change. The framing did. A player praising the work done to manage him carefully since March suddenly became a source of “Arsenal concerns” and “alarming” remarks.
The truth is far duller and far more professional. Saka explicitly credited Mikel Arteta and “the Arsenal medical team” for working in tandem with England and having “managed me amazingly since March”. Tuchel echoed that last week, saying of Saka’s ongoing Achilles issue: “They took very good care of him and were very aware of it at Arsenal.”
Everyone inside the camps knows he is not at 100%. Everyone has known that for months. Yet his desire to play, and his belief that he is ready, is being spun as some kind of shock revelation.
Manufactured peril around England’s camp
Away from the training pitch, the attempts to construct drama around England’s base have reached almost comic levels.
The Sun’s foreign editor Nick Parker first told readers how England were “shaken” by a tornado that, in practical terms, forced them to change nothing at all. They stayed inside on what was already a quiet pre-tournament evening. No disruption, no damage, but a weather incident still stretched into a story of jeopardy.
Then came the next instalment. The headline read:
“SWAT team rushes to armed standoff just mile from England World Cup stadium as suspect arrested.”
The opening line hammered the proximity: “A SWAT team and a host of armed police yesterday responded to an incident a mile from where England’s first match will be played.”
Only in the seventh paragraph did the context arrive: “There is no indication the incident was connected to the World Cup or posed any threat to the tournament or its venues.”
A routine local incident, unrelated to the competition, inflated into something lurking ominously near England’s opening game. If a tornado that changed nothing and a police operation with no link to the tournament qualify as major storylines, the next firework display within a five-mile radius may well be billed as a crisis for the camp.
Spain stumble, England watch
Spain’s draw with Cape Verde has been quickly drafted into the wider narrative about this World Cup. The Sun framed it as a warning for everyone else:
“Why England and all other World Cup rivals should be worried after Spain are humbled by Cape Verde.”
The conclusion? Spain “still cannot be ruled out of contention for the trophy” after drawing their opening game with two group fixtures left. Of course they can’t. One match has been played. Yet in the current climate, even a routine early slip by a heavyweight is enough to trigger sweeping declarations about who should be “worried” and who remains “in contention”.
For England, watching on, it’s another reminder that the margins are thin and the noise is thick. One poor half and the narrative flips. One injury and the headlines sharpen.
Crossed lines on Liverpool’s World Cup interest
The World Cup has also become a scouting exercise for Liverpool, with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak catching the eye in the early rounds. Both have impressed, albeit against Curacao and Tunisia, but the performances are encouraging for a club heavily linked with attacking reinforcements.
Jeremy Cross, writing in the Daily Mirror, argued that this is good news for Liverpool and for manager Andoni Iraola. The logic is simple enough: if Isak finds form on the biggest stage, he returns to Anfield sharper, more confident, and better prepared for the domestic season.
Yet Cross framed it oddly: “Iraola will want this to continue. He would never admit it, but the Spaniard will hope Isak uses the biggest stage of all to find himself again, before taking that feeling back to Anfield.”
Why would Iraola “never admit” that he wants his most expensive striker to thrive at a World Cup? Managers routinely talk about wanting their players to carry tournament form back into club football. There is nothing controversial in that. Nothing that needs to be whispered.
England walk into the noise
So England arrive at the brink of their World Cup opener against Croatia with a familiar backdrop: injury doubts, selection controversy, security “scares” that aren’t really scares, and an expectations game that starts at the semi-finals and works backwards.
Tuchel has already made ruthless calls. Saka is prepared to gamble on his body. The media has begun its usual contortions. The only thing missing now is the football.
When the whistle goes against Croatia, England will finally have the one thing that cuts through all of it: 90 minutes to show whether this storm of noise has steeled them or simply swallowed them.
