liveUpdated 6m agoFollow live as England's World Cup begins with a tasty Group L clash with Croatia.The Athletic Live TeamJune 17, 2026 at 8:30 AM EDTEngland will play Croatia under the roof in Dallas GettyEngland vs Croatia — LatestGroup L lands with a bang at the World Cup today, with England taking on Croatia in Dallas. England were semi-finalists at Russia 2018, where they lost to Croatia on penalties. Croatia were then beaten by France in the final.Eight years on, both teams will be dreaming of an even better run this time around. Kick-off: 4pm ET, 1pm PTWatch: FOX, Fubo (try for free)Share your thoughts in our Discuss tab or email live@theathletic.comA reminder of the 2026 World Cup format Getty ImagesWe are seeing something new at this World Cup: a 48-team tournament for the first time. It ends a 24-year run of 32-team World Cups dating back to 1998. That affects the tournament schedule, as it means we have a group stage consisting of 12 groups of four teams, followed by the following knockout stage: round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.At the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each group will automatically progress to the round of 32 — as well as the eight third-placed teams with the best group record. For those hoping to be crowned world champions, it means winning one more match than in the past, with eight games rather than seven standing between them and lifting the famous trophy. Our venue for today’s match Getty ImagesHost city: DallasA home away from home for the Mexico national team when playing in the United States, Dallas has a proven passion for football.Matches such as today are being played at the 85,000-capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys when the World Cup is not in town.Speaking of which, FIFA protocols dictate this will be called Dallas Stadium for the duration of the tournament.There are plenty of facilities in the area for teams to use as a base, with Dallas’ location well placed for those playing in both Mexico and the U.S.Subscribe to The Athletic There is no better time to be a subscriber to The Athletic for all the sporting insight, analysis and live coverage you need during the World Cup and beyond.As well as the ongoing tournament in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, you can get your soccer fix with us for the rest of the year with our Champions League and Premier League coverage, as well as Europe’s top leagues.Meanwhile, the Formula 1 season is in full swing plus we have golf, tennis and more on the cards.Subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here.How to watch England vs Croatia Getty ImagesHere is how you can watch this one. These are the channels, depending on where you are watching from.U.S.: FOXCanada: TSNMexico: Canal 5UK: ITV 1 Croatia: HRT 2What time does the action start? Getty ImagesKick-off for this one is 4pm ET, which is 3pm in Dallas and 1pm PT for those of you on the west coast of the U.S.As for the Brits back in England, it’s a reasonable 9pm UK start.Welcome to our World Cup coverage!England captain Harry Kane. Getty ImagesHello! Thank you for joining The Athletic’s coverage of the FIFA 2026 men’s World Cup.Not all opening group games were drawn equal and this one is a banger, as England and Croatia meet in Group L.It’s a replay of the 2018 World Cup semi-final in Moscow and both sides will harbour ambitions of finishing top of this group. Victory today in Dallas, and the winners will have taken a big step towards that goal. So stick with us here for all the latest build-up, team news, analysis, play-by-play action and more on a big day of World Cup football.