Four years on from his last Test appearance, Matt Fisher returns to the England side in style with a wicket in just his third over as he removes Devon Conway for nine on the opening morning of the second Test against New Zealand at The Oval.
The 2026 World Cup will have 13 different kickoff times. You can use the Al Jazeera Sport widget to find out exactly when your team is playing in your local time.
Who: England vs Croatia What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L match Where: AT&T Stadium, Dallas, Texas When: Wednesday, 3pm local time (20:00 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
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Chants of “It’s Coming Home” will ring around parts of England on Wednesday as the European heavyweights begin their 2026 World Cup title bid with a test against familiar foes, Croatia.
It has been 60 years since England were last crowned world champions, but they are genuine contenders for the title this year.
While coach Thomas Tuchel’s squad selection divided fan opinion in the run-up to their journey to North America, bookmakers still believe this crop of English talent, headlined by Harry Kane, can achieve a deep run in the tournament.
Their first hurdle, though, is a challenging one.
Once labelled underdogs, Croatia have grown into one of international football’s most consistent tournament performers, finishing as World Cup runners-up in 2018 and earning third place at the last edition, in 2022, as well as 1998.
Their 40-year-old captain Luka Modric may well be heading into his last tournament, but he remains the heartbeat of the team, and as has been the case for years, Croatia pose a threat under his leadership.
Al Jazeera tells you everything you need to know about England vs Croatia:
Kane: 2026 World Cup ‘one of the best opportunities’ for England triumph
After a string of near-misses at recent European Championships and World Cups, England head into the 2026 tournament chasing their first world title since 1966.
They are led by captain Kane, who has arrived in North America in some of the best form of his career, and fresh off the high of lifting his second Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich.
“For sure, it’s one of the best opportunities we will have as a team to win it,” Kane told reporters, talking about England’s odds of winning the tournament.
“I think everyone is eager to just start well and prove that we have the capabilities of going far in this tournament.”
England fans can expect Harry Kane to fire goals, as the striker heads to the tournament in some of the best form of his career [File: Peter Cziborra/Reuters]
The 32-year-old has urged his team, who had a 100 percent record in the qualifiers, to “go for it” and be “free in the mind” when they launch their World Cup title charge in Texas.
Tuchel, too, knows the expectations from fans are high, with England among the top contenders in the 48-team tournament.
Their best run in recent times has been reaching the semifinals in 2018, while their last campaign ended in the quarterfinals in 2022 – both under former manager Gareth Southgate.
“We have a right to dream, but we don’t want to be delusional,” Tuchel has said.
Croatia coach Dalic warns about goal-machine Kane, calls Modric his ‘right hand’
Croatia’s head coach Zlatko Dalic has warned his team to be wary of goal-scoring machine Kane, who netted a whopping 61 times in 51 matches in all competitions for Bayern Munich last season.
“They have the best striker in the world, they have Kane, and Kane can do a hell of a lot,” said Dalic. “We will do a lot, we will do our best not only to defend ourselves but to attack, to go forward.
“There will be set pieces, which will be quite difficult, but we are prepared for that. I expect a great game, and it will be great preparation for the next two games in the group.”
Just as Kane is central to England’s hopes of a deep run, veteran Modric is crucial to Croatia’s World Cup dreams. After playing a key role in Croatia’s previous World Cup campaigns, Modric is set for his fifth and possibly final appearance.
Luka Modric will be making his 199th appearance for Croatia on Wednesday [File: Antonio Bronic/Reuters]
The ageing midfielder, also the Balkan nation’s captain, still enjoys a hero’s status among a side that has often defied expectations on the global stage. And by Dalic’s own admission, the team still relies heavily on him, not least for his playmaking prowess.
“He means a lot, both as a captain of our team and as a person,” Dalic said of Modric, ahead of his 199th appearance for the team.
“He is my right hand on the pitch.
“It means a lot to the team that we have a couple of older players alongside Luka who are leading the younger players, and they can do very good things,” Dalic added.
“They are very lucky to have him, Luka, as a role model in how to fight for the national team jersey, and we’re lucky to still have him with us.”
England vs Croatia prediction
Stats provider Opta’s supercomputer has handed England a 55.9 percent probability of winning against Croatia, who have a 20.8 percent chance of winning. There is a 23.3 percent probability of a draw.
Overall, England are fourth in the list of title favourites – with a 10.02 percent probability – behind Spain, France and Argentina.
England vs Croatia: Kickoff time, TV listing
In the United Kingdom, England vs Croatia kicks off at 9pm BST and will be shown on STV, STV Player, ITV1 and ITVX.
For fans in Croatia, the match is scheduled for 10pm and will be shown on HRT.
In the United States, viewers can tune into FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, FOX and Peacock.
To check the TV listings for your country, head to FIFA’s TV listing schedule here.
(Al Jazeera)
How does the World Cup group stage work?
England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama are in Group L.
The top two teams from each of the 12 groups – along with the eight best third-placed teams – proceed to the next phase, the round of 32, which has been introduced at the World Cup for the first time.
Form guide:
(Last five games, latest first)
England: W-W-L-D-W
Croatia: W-L-L-W-W
England have a slightly better record than Croatia in their last five matches. Both teams have won three games each, but England lost and drew the other two, while Croatia suffered defeats in both games.
England won against Costa Rica and New Zealand in pre-World Cup friendlies earlier this month, but lost to Japan in an unexpected result in late March. Before that, they drew with Uruguay in a friendly and beat Albania in a World Cup qualifier.
Croatia won against Slovakia but fell to Belgium in their World Cup warm-up matches, while also losing to Brazil in a friendly in late March. But before that, they beat Colombia in a friendly and won against Montenegro in a World Cup qualifier.
England vs Croatia: Head-to-head
Wednesday will be the 12th meeting between the two sides, with England holding a big advantage over Croatia in their head-to-head record.
England have won six times against Croatia, who have won three times. Two matches ended in a draw.
They have met at the World Cup three times before, with England losing their last tournament encounter 2-1 at the 2018 World Cup semifinal in Moscow.
Mario Mandzukic scored a goal in extra time to complete Croatia’s come-from-behind victory in the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup against England [File: Franck Fife/AFP]
England vs Croatia: Team news
On Tuesday, England defender Tino Livramento was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a calf injury and was replaced by Trevoh Chalobah. The Newcastle United right-back sustained the injury during a training session at the team’s Kansas City base on Sunday.
England’s late wobble, in which Kemp was run out for two, comes with the caveat of the confusion caused by Sciver-Brunt’s retirement.
Earlier, faced with a low total, Wyatt-Hodge and Jones continued to attack but chipped catches to the ring for 16 and nine respectively. Capsey was bowled by a fine yorker by Orla Prendergast for five.
Afterwards, Sciver-Brunt and Knight’s composed partnership steered England to the brink of victory, until Knight was pinned lbw by Prendergast for 26.
The only England player who had a real off day was seamer Lauren Bell. She conceded a boundary with the first delivery of Ireland’s innings and was hit for four fours by Louise Little in a final over that cost 17 and boosted Ireland’s score.
In between, Ireland were unable to counter as England mixed spin with seam through the middle. Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets and Dani Gibson and Dean two apiece, as England dominated much of Ireland’s innings of 118-9.
Dean bowled accurately and found turn to induce false shots with 36% of her deliveries.
Ecclestone mixed her pace to have Rebecca Stokell stumped with a quicker ball and Arlene Kelly and Cara Murray gave looping catches and Gibson, who took 2-10 in two overs, had Ireland’s Prendergast bowled via an inside edge for 25.
Ireland, who limped on from 57-5, have now lost 19 T20 World Cup matches from 19, but this performance was more encouraging than Saturday’s defeat by Scotland.
They were good with the ball, but did not have enough runs to defend.
Tuchel’s decision to select a central defender in Chalobah, rather than a natural full-back replacement, is further proof Real Madrid’s Alexander-Arnold remains well out of the picture.
This was after Tuchel even opted to pick Alexander-Arnold’s former Liverpool team-mate Curtis Jones, a central midfielder, ahead of him at right-back against Andorra in June.
Tuchel has made his concerns over Alexander-Arnold’s perceived defensive frailties clear, saying: “If he wants to have this impact in the English national team then he has to take the defensive part very, very seriously.
“Because when we are talking, especially about qualifying football, and then tournament football, the one defensive error, the one moment where you are not 100% awake, can be decisive. It can be the moment where you pack your suitcases and go home.”
Packing his suitcase early for a flight back to England is not on Tuchel’s agenda – so one of the country’s most naturally gifted footballers is overlooked again.
Alexander-Arnold was not included in Tuchel’s 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March, missing out again when the coach needed to seek reinforcements.
Tuchel instead picked Arsenal’s Ben White, who has not been a regular at club level and had been in self-imposed England exile since the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
Alexander-Arnold did make Tuchel’s provisional 55-man World Cup squad, although that could hardly be called a ringing endorsement.
It is in sharp contrast to the faith placed in Alexander-Arnold by Lee Carsley, England’s Under-21 coach who bridged the gap between Southgate’s departure and Tuchel’s appointment.
Carsley even used Alexander-Arnold at left-back in a 3-1 Nations League win at Finland in October 2024, crowning his performance with a superb free-kick.
Alexander-Arnold started four games out of six under Carsley but none of Tuchel’s 14 – those facts speak for themselves.
As a head coach who fixates on squad togetherness, was there a worry that having such a high-profile player on the margins might lead Alexander-Arnold to provide an unintentional distraction and focus of attention?
Alexander-Arnold’s latest rejection appears to be further evidence there is no way back for him with England as long as Tuchel is in charge.
England fans have had a longer wait than most for their 2026 World Cup campaign to get under way.
On Wednesday, six days after the tournament began, the Three Lions will walk out at the Dallas Stadium for their opener against Croatia.
It is difficult to predict how many England fans will turn up, draping the St George’s Cross around the stands.
The official England Supporters’ Travel Club (ESTC) has sold its allocation of 4,022 tickets. Controversially, a few appear to be listed on Fifa’s resale site at inflated prices.
The number of fans who travel independently and the ex-pats is really an unknown.
The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) told BBC Sport that between 12,000 and 15,000 England fans are expected at each group stage game.
The UKFPU added that 89,000 World Cup tickets have been purchased by fans from England.
That covers all 104 matches and there is no individual breakdown, while most fans will attend more than one fixture.
But that number does not include the supporters who have headed out to the United States without securing tickets.
Germany in 2006 was the high point, with the UKFPU estimating that 350,000 people made the short trip to watch games in stadia but mostly at fan parks.
Only 4,000 are thought to have visited Qatar four years ago, while 20,000 to 30,000 is a more usual figure.
Newcastle United defender Tino Livramento is a major doubt for England’s World Cup campaign, with Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah poised to replace the full-back.
Livramento, 23, is understood to have sustained an injury during a training session on Sunday before England’s World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST).
While the Football Association is not commenting on the extent of Livramento’s injury, it is understood there are fears he could be out of action for up to four weeks.
Livramento’s involvement in the tournament had already been in doubt after he missed the final five weeks of the season with a thigh injury.
If, as is now expected, Livramento is ruled out of the tournament, Chelsea defender Chalobah is set to replace him – though he will not join up with the squad until after the Croatia match.
Outfield players who sustain a serious injury or illness can be replaced in a World Cup squad up to 24 hours before the team’s first match of the tournament gets under way.
Livramento, who was handed his international debut under Gareth Southgate in November 2024, has featured five times during Tuchel’s reign, starting twice.
He came on at half-time during England’s 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand but was left on the bench against Costa Rica.
Reece James is Tuchel’s first choice at right-back but there are also question marks about his fitness, following another injury-plagued campaign.
The 26-year-old missed nine games for Chelsea at the end of the season because of a hamstring injury.
Other options who are already in the England squad include Djed Spence and Ezri Konsa.
Spence, who can play on both flanks, has featured six times under Tuchel while Konsa, predominantly a centre-back, has played 11 times, including nine starts.
Chalobah has not featured for England since June 2025 when he played the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Senegal, but was on the bench for multiple World Cup qualifiers under Tuchel.
Like Konsa, the 26-year-old’s preferred position is centre-back.
Stokes’ future as Test captain is uncertain with England head coach Brendon McCullum not offering any guarantees when he faced the media on Monday.
But Stokes has the full backing of Australian Campbell, who has been unimpressed at how his player has been treated since news of the incident in a London nightclub emerged last week.
“Ben knows he made a mistake and broke the curfew, but some of the reaction has been a little over,” Campbell added.
“I’m a bit old school, I like a beer after a game of cricket if you’ve got 10 days off but I’m not the coach, I don’t run that system.”
Stokes played two county games for Durham in the run-up to the New Zealand series and Campbell has already suggested he has a “75% chance” of featuring against Northants.
With his availability for the third Test at Trent Bridge, starting on 25 June, uncertain, the four-day Championship game could be Stokes’ last red-ball cricket before the Test series with Pakistan in mid-August.
“Ben is a competitor and he loves to play and he wants to play,” Campbell said. “He put his hand up and said he made a mistake.
“From what I’ve seen, he’s in good spirits, he’s back in training, working hard and the rest will take care of itself.”
Saka, who will make his 50th appearance for England in his next match, played 27 minutes of England’s warm-up game against Costa Rica as the forward’s game-time was managed by Tuchel.
The winger was taken off in the Champions League final as Arsenal lost to Paris-St Germain in Budapest with the scores level at the time of his substitution.
Saka’s performance in that match was criticised, but when asked if he found it frustrating being judged while not 100% fit, he said it is a “gamble” he is willing to take.
“Yeah, but I think as players it’s the biggest gamble, especially if you’re not feeling your sharpest. You have the choice whether you don’t play or you put yourself out there knowing that people are going to judge you the same,” Saka said.
“And at the end of the day people don’t really care how you’re feeling, they expect you to deliver, they expect you to perform.
“I’m happy to take that gamble and it paid off I’d say, and I’m going to continue doing that – but like I said I’m feeling a lot better than I did in March and I’m ready to go, so I’m excited.”
Saka is competing for a starting spot on the right wing with Arsenal team-mate Noni Madueke, but says that despite competing for game-time for club and country they want the best for each other.
“It’s quite unique, two players that play in the same position to be as close as we are,” Saka said.
“I don’t really know how it works, but it works. Noni is like my brother on and off the pitch. We push each other and we speak every day.
“We have that mutual respect for each other and we want each other to do well.
“The good thing is that we play on the same team and that if one of us is doing well it is good for the other.”
SEATTLE — If a pregnant Nigerian woman had been allowed to board a plane 25 years ago, the U.S. team’s path through this summer’s World Cup may have unfolded much differently. Instead, a gate agent turned her away, insisting it wasn’t safe for her to fly from New York to London.
So Florence Balogun returned to Brooklyn, where she had been visiting relatives, and waited for her second son to be born. And when Folarin arrived a few weeks later, entering the world just hours before Independence Day dawned, he did so as an American citizen.
It was that quirk of fate that allowed Balogun, who lived just two months in the U.S., to represent the country on soccer’s biggest stage.
“I’m extremely proud my individual journey will come full circle now,” he said before the tournament started. “Especially the World Cup being here, the opportunity to represent my nation. It’s going to be something special for me.”
The first game certainly was, with Balogun scoring twice in the first half of a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay, becoming the first American with multiple goals in a World Cup game in 96 years while introducing himself to a country that may have known his name, but not his unique talent.
“If you don’t know the type of player he is, you could see it today,” midfielder Weston McKennie said. “It’s the World Cup, everyone steps up to their maximum. In the past a lot of people maybe have not made him out to be a player like that.
“He showed everyone he’s willing to do the dirty work as well.”
Balogun once had his pick of countries to represent. His birth in Brooklyn made him eligible to play for the U.S., his longterm residency in London made him eligible to play for England and his parents’ nationality qualified him to play for Nigeria.
He picked the U.S.
And he’s not the only one on the American team who had a choice. Half the men on the World Cup roster — including Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman, who each had a goal or an assist against Paraguay — are dual nationals, meaning they’re playing for the U.S. because they want to, not because they have to.
“You’re more American if you were not born over there because you had the choice to choose and you chose America,” Kenneth Dest, the Surinamese-American father of Dutch-born defender Sergiño Dest, said in an HBO Max documentary.
If America is a nation of immigrants, it only seems right that it should be represented in the World Cup by a team of immigrants. Like Tillman and Dest, who were born and raised in Europe, the sons of U.S. soldiers. Or forwards Tim Weah, the Brooklyn-born son of the former president of Liberia, and Alejandro Zendejas, who was born in Mexico but became a U.S. citizen at 13 after his father was naturalized.
U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, right, celebrates his goal with Sergiño Dest (2) and Chris Richards (3) against Paraguay.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The paternal great-grandmother of goalie Matt Turner fled religious persecution in Lithuania, with his Jewish ancestors changing their family name from Turnovski to Turner when they arrived at Ellis Island. The parents of midfielder Cristian Roldan came to the U.S. to escape civil wars in Central America, his father from Guatemala and his mother from El Salvador.
They didn’t wind up wearing the same uniform by accident, however. The recruitment of dual nationals dates to the 1980s under Hungarian-born manager Bob Gansler, who qualified the U.S. for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years with a team that included players born in Uruguay, Greece, Germany and El Salvador.
It really began to scale up about 15 years ago under Bob Bradley and his successor Jurgen Klinsmann. Gregg Berhalter then took it to another level, recruiting more than a dozen dual nationals — including Dest, Tillman, Balogun and Turner — in his five years as coach.
The practice isn’t limited to the USMNT. When France won the World Cup in 2018, 16 of the 23 players on the team came from families that recently immigrated from places like Zaire, Cameroon, Morocco, Angola, Congo or Algeria. More than half the players on Algeria’s team in this summer’s tournament were born in Europe while only seven men on Morocco’s roster are from Morocco.
Even Japan, famously homogeneous, has a Black goalkeeper who was born in Arkansas to a father from Ghana.
“Inclusion always pulls sport forward,” said Ronen Dorfan, a journalist and sports historian based in Budapest.
Still, Balogun’s journey is unusual — and not just because of the way it started.
He was two months old when he and his mother finally made it to London and eight years later he was good enough to enter Arsenal’s academy system. He made his junior international debut with England at 17, then three months later was invited to play four games for the U.S. U18 team.
But Balogun’s future appeared to be with England, especially after he scored seven times in 13 appearances with the U21 team, then followed that up with a career-high 21 goals for Reims in France’s Ligue 1 in 2022-23.
Yet neither performance earned him a call-up to a senior national team that was deep at forward.
So the U.S., which desperately needed a fast, technical, two-footed No. 9, pounced, getting Balogun to withdraw from England’s U21 training camp to make a secret visit to Florida. Once there, U.S. Soccer arranged for him to sit courtside at an NBA game, receive VIP passes to Universal Orlando, attend spring training with the Yankees and meet with a number of U.S. national team players.
With a schedule like this, his visit didn’t stay secret for long. After studying pictures Balogun had posted on social media, some U.S. fans determined he was in Orlando and began peppering his feeds with American flag emojis. Others found him at his hotel and urged him to commit to the U.S., a plea his parents, citing a quirk in fate, had been making for years.
You’re American, they argued. You were born there.
Six weeks later he did commit, with FIFA approving his request to switch allegiances from England to the U.S. A month after that, he scored his first senior international goal in the 2023 Nations League Finals and he’s never looked back. Because if Balogun, 24, felt overlooked in England, he’s felt looked after in the colonies.
“When I committed and throughout this whole cycle and the whole journey to me being at this point, I’ve always said the fans gave me so much motivation, showed me so much support,” said Balogun, who speaks in a pronounced London accent. “The most important thing has been to repay that.
“I just want to continue to show the fans I made the right decision. I want to continue to make the fans proud as well.”
He made a great start on that in his World Cup debut.
THE upcoming Eden Project Morecambe has unveiled its biggest attraction yet – a £4.5million immersive experience.
Called ‘The Elder Tree’ it will guide visitors through a unique journey when it opens in 2028.
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Eden Project Morecambe will have ‘The Elder Tree’ as its focal pointCredit: Eden ProjectThe new Eden Project will consist of two domes in Morecambe BayCredit: Eden Project
The £100million garden attraction set to be built on Morecambe Bay has revealed its centrepiece called ‘The Elder Tree’.
It has been described as “one of the most significant elements” of the attraction.
It’s being built at the cost of £4.5million, which was donated from a charity lottery.
The 65 foot tree will guide visitors on a journey from its roots to the trunk hollows in a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.
It is set to show people how to “reconnect” with and “restore nature”.
The Eden Project in Morecambe will be the newest of its kind in 25 years with the only other attraction being in Cornwall.
Inside the new attraction will be two very different experiences called The Realm of the Sun and The Realm of the Moon.
The Realm of the Sun has been described as “a bright, lush landscape of the near future — a place where humanity has rediscovered how to repair and re-engage with the broken rhythms of the natural world”.
The Realm of the Moon is as an immersive but “darker” space with a hyper-real rockpool which will have sped-up cycles of tides.
Also inside the domes will be 1.5 acres of landscaped gardens, which will open earlier than the other exhibits in 2027.
The garden attraction will have a light and a dark realmCredit: Eden Project
Other details that have been previously mentioned include hanging plants, mini gardens, a multi-sensory area, a waterfall and a ‘Town Square’.
Between the two realms, there is expected to be an area called Metronome, where visitors will buy their entry tickets.
There will be a 750-capacity Tidal Theatre, a 300-capacity restaurant and a shop at the attraction as well.
Once open, Eden Project Morecambe is expected to bring in around £80million to the local area.
Andy Jasper, Eden Project CEO, said: “The funding has specifically secured The Elder Tree – which will sit at the heart of the experience for visitors.
“More than a striking landmark, it will help tell the story of our changing relationship with the natural world and inspire people to imagine what an incredibly positive future could look like.”
England won the World Cup of Darts for a record-extending sixth time as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries overcame the Netherlands 10-5 in Frankfurt.
The top seeds defeated Wales and Scotland earlier on Sunday to set up a tantalising best-of-19-legs final against second seeds Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen.
“I’m absolutely delighted – that’s the best we have played all tournament,” Littler told Sky Sports.
“That’s what we needed to do. We can’t do it every game, its hard. There have been challenges but we got the job done.
“We didn’t do anything wrong last year, we just came up against a better team. This year we had to win together, not on our own.
“I’m proud of us – we won together.”
The world’s top four players produced a tight contest early on that stayed with throw until Littler found double 10 to break just before the first interval.
England held after the break before Humphries took out 87 to break once more and establish a three-leg lead.
From that point on the Premier League champion and runner-up did not look like surrendering their lead – Littler hit tops to extend the advantage to 6-2 as England’s average crept up to 114, though Van Veen hit back with a timely maximum as the Dutch held with a 14-dart leg.
Humphries recovered from a slight wobble – his failed set-up left Littler needing and missing a bullseye to break – to hit double four to put the duo 7-3 up going into the second break.
The Dutch were handed a lifeline when Littler failed to take out 78, affording Van Veen a 64 checkout to cut the deficit before Van Gerwen showed similar composure to stick with throw.
But they knew the game was up when after hitting a remarkable 174, Van Gerwen bust on an attempted eight checkout and England broke.
That led to England needing 41 to win, and Humphries secured the world title – his second and the first of Littler’s career – with nine, 16 and double eight.
“Michael [van Gerwen] was unbelievable tonight – he is back and playing unbelievable darts,” Humphries told Sky Sports.
“We knew we needed to take our chances. You give Holland any hope and they’ll take it away from you.
“We were a bit poor against Wales but we ran with the luck we had in that game.”
England have recovered the majority of the training equipment that was stolen prior to their arrival in Kansas City on Saturday.
Sources have confirmed the return of the items that were taken after vehicles transferring equipment to their Swope Soccer Village base in Kansas City were broken into.
Thomas Tuchel and his squad will arrive in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon and the equipment was due to be in place beforehand.
Police officers, who are in touch with the FA, were on site on Friday night dealing with the matter.
It is understood two arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
A spokesman for Kansas Police said before the recovery of the equipment: “We are investigating a possible theft of equipment from a team vehicle that arrived in Kansas City with items missing this evening. The investigation is ongoing.”
The theft occurred as Tuchel’s side began their preparations for their World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday (21:00 BST).
“We have plenty of pairs of boots throughout the season, but for the tournament a lot of them will have them personalised,” former England defender Phil Jagielka told BBC Sport.
“A lot of them may have their own special insoles. Then you could choose whether to have the flag, your initials, your kids’ [names], nicknames… All this would have been done months in advance.”
The England players will undertake their first full training day on Sunday.
Crocombe’s selection may raise eyebrows, given other recent picks such as Essex’s Sam Cook or Durham’s Matthew Potts have been overlooked, but it should not be a big surprise.
When England named their Test squad at the start of the summer, Key mentioned the tall, strong quick saying he had “really kicked on” this season.
Crocombe, a product of Sussex’s academy, was first picked by England Lions in 2024 before struggles with injury.
It was when he began this County Championship season with his first five-wicket haul, taking nine in the match against Leicestershire, that he began to seriously catch the eye.
Another right-arm quick, Crocombe bowls at a lively pace.
Overall, his statistics this season are solid – a Championship average of 28.61 while sitting joint 11th in the wicket-takers’ list – and he has the skills England value.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Nearly a dozen A-10C Thunderbolt II attack jets landed at RAF Lakenheath in the U.K. earlier on Friday, sporting mission marks from operations in the Middle East as well as their distinctive nose art. The photos were taken by aviation photographer Andrew McKelvey, who told us that 11 Warthogs landed at Lakenheath at about 3 p.m. local time. McKelvey was kind enough to share his photos with us.
According to the Coronet East X account, the jets belong to the 75th Fighter Squadron and arrived through Aviano Air Base in Italy from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
One of the most interesting shots shows one of the jets with an F-15E tail marking, green footprints of the Air Force Pararescue Jumpers (PJs) and the words “So others may live,” which is their motto. As we have previously reported, A-10s took part in the daring mission to rescue two F-15E crewmembers whose Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran, acting in the Sandy low-altitude escort role for the rest of the rescue package. One A-10 was struck by Iranian fire and crashed. The pilot survived.
You can see the F-15E tail mark on this A-10. Andrew McKelvey Andrew McKelvey
So it is possible that the Warthog with this marking took part in the F-15E crew’s CSAR operation or another one that we do not know of. We reached out to the 75th Wing for more information.
Following a long aviation tradition of personalizing aircraft, the Warthogs are emblazoned with colorful nose art that includes Nintendo game characters homages like Ridley the giant purple space dragon, ‘Diddy Kong,’ King Dedede, Samus Aran, Star Fox and Little Mac. Non video game references include Macho Man, Doc Holiday and the Reaper.
We have previously noted that personnel have applied nose art as part of other deployment to Muwaffaq Salti, which appears to be becoming something of a trend in the region. F-15Es from RAF Lakenheath are well known for their often comical nose art designs and the practice is now allowed after the USAF forbid it unless under very particular circumstances for many years.
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There are also a couple of target type ‘kill’ markings seen, as well. This includes a pair of boats and a truck that appears to have made a giant secondary explosion, based on the mushroom cloud marking.
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As we have previously reported, the venerable Warthogs were pressed into service helping to destroy the Iranian Navy, strike Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria, and take part in the aforementioned rescue mission, among other tasks, as part of Operation Epic Fury.
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All this took place as the seemingly ceaseless debate between the Air Force and Congress about the future of these jets and their survivability in future conflicts rages on. We recently wrote that an amendment added to the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the National Defense Authorization bill threw a lifeline to the jets. It called for the Secretary of the Air Force to keep supporting A-10 training, testing, experimentation, maintenance, and sustainment efforts through to the planned retirement date, as well as preserving lessons learned and operational expertise from A-10 missions to help shape future replacement systems.
Regardless of what ultimately becomes of the A-10, the markings seen in these pictures shows they still provided a lot of value in this most recent fight.
Watch the best shots as Danni Wyatt-Hodge hits an unbeaten 105 to guide England to an 85-run win against Sri Lanka, and give the hosts the perfect start to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Watch the moment Danni Wyatt-Hodge reaches a century in the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as England reach a record-breaking 219 from their 20 overs against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.
Kane’s status as captain, talisman and main marksman is illustrated very simply by his all-time record of 79 goals in 114 England games.
And yet, at 32, he continues to add strings to his bow in a fashion that now makes him the complete player.
In Orlando, there was further evidence that Tuchel has effectively given Kane a roving commission to link, create and score – all tasks he performs superbly.
In the first half, there was even the sight of Kane picking the ball up in England’s own penalty area as they played out from the back, linking comfortably with his defenders.
And then, as half-time approached, he produced a stunning pass with the inside of his right foot from a deep position, taking out four Costa Rica defenders to find Anthony Gordon, who thought he had won a penalty only for the decision to be overturned after a video assistant referee review.
Tuchel’s willingness to allow Kane to roam freely, as he does for Bayern Munich, adds an intriguing layer to the German’s strategy.
It is clear that Kane possesses the natural game intelligence – described as “uncoachable” by former England striker Chris Sutton – to not only create but also still arrive with perfect timing in attacking positions.
Kane’s range of passing and vision enables him to find runners like Gordon or Saka, as well as Bellingham and Rogers when they make their trademark surges.
It may just give Tuchel and England an X-factor if they drive deep into the World Cup and have to unlock superior opposition.
No wonder Tuchel is reluctant to leave Kane out, even for a friendly, so central is he to his plans.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel said the delay to their World Cup warm-up game with Costa Rica gave them a “little taste of what can happen” – but will that prove to be an understatement?
The match was due to start at 21:00 BST in Orlando, Florida, but heavy rain and thunderstorms pushed it back an hour to 22:00 BST.
Weather delays have been a major talking point in the build-up to this year’s World Cup, with several matches in last year’s Fifa Club World Cup in the United States impacted by thunderstorms.
This was not the first tournament warm-up game to suffer delays caused by storms either – and many fans are concerned it could become a theme throughout the World Cup.
“We were aware of that before – now we experience it,” Tuchel told ITV before the game. “It’s no problem.
“It should not be an excuse to lose our mood or patience or to lose our hunger to play the game.
“No problem at all. We realised it when we were still at the hotel so it was easy. We just said half an hour later in the bus and let’s go.”
Fans who had already arrived at Inter&Co Stadium were told to evacuate from the stands and retreat to a safe position on the concourses to avoid lightning strikes.
Thunderstorms in the US are not uncommon, but when it comes to them impacting matches, Fifa has no power to make its own rules and must adhere to the advice of local authorities.
Recommendations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are used and they say if any lightning strike is detected within eight miles of a stadium, the game has to be stopped.
A mandatory 30-minute countdown begins and each time there is a lightning strike inside the distance, the countdown clock resets to 30 minutes.
If a full 30 minutes has elapsed, the supporters can go back to their seats and players will have a short warm-up.
England have described the arrangement for the second Test as “interim”, and its impermanence seems important.
On Monday, when it first emerged that Stokes and Gus Atkinson were in hot water, there was an immediate feeling it would spell the end of Stokes’ captaincy.
It still may. There is an ongoing investigation. Stokes could decide to walk.
But, with every passing hour, the temperature is cooling. Stokes could return for the third Test at Trent Bridge or, more likely, the series against Pakistan later in the summer.
Still, Stokes has given a window into what England’s life might be without him. For the first time in his career, Stokes the cricketer is not indispensable. Earlier this week, head coach Brendon McCullum had to defend his batting, and back Stokes to return to form.
If Brook had been put in charge, England may have seen something they like. Brook and McCullum seemed more aligned during the T20 World Cup than Stokes and McCullum did during the Ashes.
Brook would have been captaining his peers, whereas Stokes leads a group of younger men, many of whom grew up idolising him. Maybe England would have found a Stokesless formation that makes them stronger: the leg-spin of Rehan Ahmed as the all-rounder, followed by four specialist seamers.
None of this becomes an issue with Root in charge. He will be all too happy to hand over the reins when the time comes.
These roles were once reversed. In the Covid summer of 2021, Stokes stepped in for one Test while Root was on paternity leave. Root left a note on Stokes’ peg in the dressing room which said: “Do it your way”.
Now, Root will do it his way. Clapping his hands from first slip, long sprints to talk to his bowlers. A smile on his face, maybe a classic Rootian century. Not the puffed-out chest of an alpha like Stokes, just the calm reassurance of English cricket’s most dependable presence.
Once again, it is Joe Root riding to England’s rescue.
Mum-of-one, Melanie is taking the plunge to leave the UK as she claims she feels stuck in an infinite cycle of ‘rise and repeat’ with the country sucking the soul out of her
A mum is fleeing the UK to travel the world with her son as the country just makes her ‘miserable’ (Image: Kennedy News/meltheastrologer)
A mum is selling all of her possessions in the UK to travel the world with her five-year-old son, as she said the country makes her “miserable”, claiming: “There is something about England energy-wise that is just so off.”
This isn’t the first time Melanie Bentley-Moore, 33, has decided to leave the UK for Asia, as she first left in 2017 with the intention of a brief trip.
“I used to live in Asia for two years so I’m very familiar with that area of the world,” she said. “I was only meant to go for three months but I ended up staying out there for a couple of years travelling around Asia.”
The mum-of-one spent two years in Asia with Vietnam being her main base. But, her long-extended trip came to a halt as she missed a British staple – a local chippy. She added: “My main base was Vietnam, I did some English teaching out there and came back home because, it’s something random, I really wanted chippy and Nando’s.”
She then decided to settle in the UK, after having her son, Antares Moore, in 2023. But the desire to go back has never left Melanie. She says the UK made her miserable and believed that it’s not an isolated feeling.
“The energy just feels heavy, it’s dark – there’s no room to grow, [the] majority of people are miserable because of all the [stuff] that’s going on, the cost of living, everything’s rising,” she said, “I just don’t feel alive here and I think that’s not just a ‘me’ problem either, everyone that I’m speaking to just feels soulless.”
In April 2026, Melanie’s landlord said he was selling her flat, which prompted the mum-of-one to take the same risk she took all those years ago, and leave the UK.
Melanie told her TikTok followers: “Just hearing everyone else complain, that weakens my spirit. Most people are miserable and they’re always complaining, it seeps into everything.”
“It’s like an infinite cycle of ‘rinse and repeat’ complaining. It’s just a feeling, I just don’t feel alive. It sucks the soul out of me.”
Ahead of her relocation, Melanie took her son out of school as she admired the Scandinavian education system which saw children beginning compulsory school between the ages of 6 and 7. In the UK, children start school from the age of 4.
“In Scandinavia there’s a reason why their children are the happiest and more successful because they don’t start school till they’re seven.”
Melanie hoped to show her son ‘real life’ as she preferred the values of life in Asia.
She said: “I’m going to go to Indonesia and then probably back to Vietnam, it just depends on the weather. See where life takes us, I’m very ‘flowy’.
“With the values and stuff, life’s just better over there. It’s slower, it’s sunny, the scenes are beautiful and you realise there is so much more to life than what I’m used to.”
By speaking up, Melanie hoped to inspire others to follow their dreams and see “there’s more to life”.
“I’m here to inspire people to follow their heart, go after what they want and that there’s more to life,” she said, “It’s no good talking, there’s a lot of talkers out there – I ‘do’.”
“I want to show my son real life as well. I’m going to do some charity work and volunteering with him. There is no better learning than real life.”
England did almost everything right in their qualifying group, winning five of their six matches, including the victory over Spain at Wembley in April.
They also scored 13 goals, conceded just five – four of which came against Spain – and kept four clean sheets.
But it is not easy to qualify automatically and England were given a rough draw with world champions Spain in their group. The quest for top spot was always likely to come down to their head-to-head record.
That is what happened as England ultimately missed out because they were thumped in Majorca.
That humbling defeat – which showed the gulf between the two teams when Spain are at their best – was their downfall.
Wiegman opted for experience in the starting XI against Spain. Despite not featuring for England since October, and only returning from a four-month injury in April, midfielder Ella Toone was given the nod over Lucia Kendall and Laura Blindkilde Brown.
Chelsea’s Lucy Bronze started at right-back despite an injury in the build-up to the game.
In the end, England’s midfielders were too passive and easily controlled by Spain, while the usually explosive frontline of Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp and Lauren James proved ineffective.
At the back, England struggled to live with Spain’s creativity and dynamism, with only Esme Morgan impressing in a generally dismal performance.
England’s sloppiness was compounded by the fact Spain produced one of their best performances to date and Wiegman could not come up with an answer for it.
Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live this week that she is “absolutely convinced” England can match Spain at their best if they are to meet again next year.
But that one crucial defeat showed just how difficult it is for England to qualify for major tournaments and why they cannot afford an ‘off day’ against the best teams.
“We have mixed feelings, of course. We were very disappointed with the way the game went [against Spain],” said midfielder Georgia Stanway, a scorer on Tuesday along with Jess Carter and Beth Mead.
“It’s very rare that you get 15 points and still not make it out of the group. I think that it shows our level, our consistency, but we know our performance wasn’t good enough against Spain.”
Wiegman said it was a “good thing” that there is more competition throughout Europe but admitted it was tough to miss out on such fine margins.
“The Nations League brought more competition in Europe. I think that’s really nice. We also noticed we have to play Spain so many times,” she said.
“I was excited for this group to play Iceland as we hadn’t played them. It’s something for Uefa to have a look at, at least. The good thing is there is a lot of competition.”
