How a Retaken Penalty Became the Moment That Broke Croatia's Resistance

A wild night in Dallas and a statement from England

By the time the final whistle pierced the humid Dallas air, grown adults in replica shirts were hugging strangers and shouting the same incredulous question at one another: what on earth have we just watched?

England four, Croatia two, and a World Cup campaign that began not with a cautious shuffle but with a thrilling sprint into the unknown. It was breathless, flawed, frantic football. It was also the clearest sign yet that Thomas Tuchel’s England is going to be very different from the team that crept through tournaments …