Coach Zlatko Dalic said Croatia has no more room for error at the World Cup after losing 4-2 to England in an entertaining Group L opener at the Dallas Stadium on Wednesday.
The Croats fought back twice to make the score 2-2 on the stroke of half-time, but failed to respond to two English goals in the second half.
Dalic, who led his country to the 2018 World Cup final and semi-finals in Qatar four years ago, said it was crucial his players gathered quickly for their remaining group matches against Panama and Ghana.
«It’s not easy to lose,» he told reporters. “You lose your self-confidence and that is not good.
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«We have to prepare well for the next two matches in the first phase. It is very important for us to be at the right level after this defeat. We have no right to make more mistakes.»
«We don’t have the right to have bad games or mistakes. I wouldn’t say this was a bad game. There were some mistakes we committed, some mistakes we made. We were punished by our opponent. There are two games ahead of us, a new beginning.»
Dalic was particularly scathing about his team’s attempts to defend set pieces after two of England’s goals followed corners.
«We used to be quite good at set pieces. We didn’t concede goals that easily and we practiced in front of this opponent. We knew how England were going to play,» he said.
«It was disastrous, especially when it comes to a team like England. About 40% of their goals are set-pieces.»
“We must correct this and avoid similar mistakes in the future,” he added.
Dalic said the team had gained confidence with goals from Petar Musa and Martin Baturina, who canceled out Harry Kane’s first two strikes for England.
However, the goal that England’s Jude Bellingham scored shortly after half-time had taken the pressure off his players.
“We had ten minutes after that that were really bad,” he said.
«We tried to get back into the game but we couldn’t. It was a strange game. We made a lot of mistakes, especially when it came to set pieces, but I have to congratulate England.»
Published on June 18, 2026
