With this referee, Ivan Perišić will face in his first World Cup match.
1 min readThe group match England - Croatia at the 2026 World Cup can be described as a top clash. Croatia, with PSV player Ivan Perisic, reached the semi-finals at least in the last two World Cups, and England was a losing finalist at the last two European Championships.
In Arlington, both countries exit the World Cup at 10 p.m. Dutch time. England has two of the biggest world stars at the moment in super striker Harry Kane and midfield player Jude Bellingham, while for the Croats, the 41-year-old Luka Modric is still driving the team forward and is also the captain.
The French referee Clement Turpin has been appointed by FIFA to oversee the match between the two European top nations. For Thomas Tuchel, the head coach of The Three Lions, this is a painful reunion since the German, during his time as coach of FC Bayern München, was still sent to the stands by Turpin.
This happened during the Champions League match against Manchester City (1-1) on 19 April 2023 and afterwards the coach had nothing but criticism for the referee. ''I give him a 1 out of 10. He was dreadful. He whistled for everything and anything. Everything was against us'', Tuchel said at the time after the match to the German media.
The match between England and Croatia is already the third time in eight years that both countries have faced each other at a major tournament. In the 2018 World Cup semi-final, the Croatians won after extra time 2-1, partly thanks to a goal by Perisic in regular time, and at the 2021 European Championship England won 1-0 thanks to a goal by Feyenoord flop Raheem Sterling.
Comments6
Not convinced by the recent talk about "pressing higher". When the first ball gets played through once, PSV's shape looks shaky. Still, with the front three chasing like that, it can absolutely turn into a banger if the 6 reads the danger early. 🔥
If PSV really played with that intensity up the pitch again, i love it. But defensively i still worry, Dumfries-style runs can leave gaps if the midfield doesn't cover. Feels like we need one more game manager in there to keep it stable.
"Keeping possession" is not a plan tbh. This has to lead to chances, not just control. Put someone on the overlap and attack the endline, go go go 🔥⚽
Kudos for the PSV focus, but idk if the lineup matches the matchup. If the opponent sits deep, we have to be faster with combinations around the box, otherwise it turns into patience tennis 😅.
That quote about "keeping it simple" sounds nice, but if it means passing sideways we'll get cooked. We need more direct balls into the half-spaces, not just neat build-up.
If PSV are pressing like the article says, i need to see more intensity from the wingers. Midfield cant get stuck between lines again, otherwise we leak transitions.