Expert Picks

I’m drinking the juice and laying the England money line as my favorite bet for this match. This is more of a fade of Croatia and how old they are, along with their lack of consistent chance creation. But it’s also about England having the best defensive record in the world, not conceding once during World Cup qualification. Thomas Tuchel is a brilliant tournament manager, and I have a hard time seeing Croatia creating much against this England side. If this ends nil-nil or 1-1, I can live with it. But at this price, I don’t think I can let England money line pass by.

This is no longer the same Croatia squad that finished third in the 22' World Cup. While they still have many of the same players, including the legend Luka Modric, their age is really started to show. This is a side that has been legendary for over a decade now, but the same players that made them great 10 years ago, are still the ones doing it now. They looked tired in their friendlies versus Belgium and Brazil. I'm not the biggest England fan, but they should win this first match in convincing fashion with the players at their disposal.

England should make a winning start to their World Cup campaign when they face an ageing Croatia team. The Croats were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup, and they finished third in 2022, but they’ve regressed in recent years. Captain Luka Modrić is now 40, and several other key players have retired. They lost 3-1 to Brazil and 2-0 to Belgium in their last two games, which suggests that they could struggle to contain an England attack featuring the likes of Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.