'Leaked' England starting XI to face Croatia

England commence their 2026 World Cup campaign against Croatia at the Dallas Stadium on Wednesday and all eyes will be on who Thomas Tuchel selects in his starting XI.

It's a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final and England's opening game of Euro 2020 as the Three Lions look to get the better of a nation that eliminated them in Moscow eight years ago.

As evidenced by his 26-man squad selection, Tuchel is not afraid to make the big calls having left the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold at home for the tournament.

There's been great intrigue as to who might get the nod for England's clash against Croatia, with debate raging over who should start as the No.10 between Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers, while John Stones' lack of game time has sparked questions as to whether he should feature from the off.

Courtesy of various media reports, England's rumoured line-up for the Group L meeting with Croatia has been leaked online.

It's expected that Real Madrid ace Bellingham will get the nod over Rogers and he will be accompanied by Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke in an attacking three behind Harry Kane.

Gordon is in direct competition with Marcus Rashford for a starting berth on the left flank and the new Barcelona recruit has seemingly done enough to impress Tuchel.

Madueke's inclusion would have come as a surprise prior to the tournament. However, Tuchel revealed a week ago that his Arsenal team-mate, Bukayo Saka, is managing an ongoing achilles issue and is likely to start on the bench.

Despite clamour for Marc Guehi to start, Ezri Konsa looks set to partner Stones in front of Jordan Pickford in central defence.

In the same XI that started in England's final warm-up match against Costa Rica, Chelsea's Reece James will start at right-back and Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly at left-back.

Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson are preferred in the midfield pivot, while there is no surprise regarding who Tuchel will select up front as Harry Kane leads the line for the Three Lions.

Reported England XI to face Croatia

(4-2-3-1): Jordan Pickford; Reece James, John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Nico O'Reilly; Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice; Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane.

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