Patrick Vieira gives England a World Cup reality check after Croatia win

Thomas Tuchel’s England team got off to a great start at the World Cup (Picture: Getty Images)

England put in a ‘huge’ performance against Croatia but will not win the World Cup, believes former Arsenal and France star Patrick Vieira.

The Three Lions roared to a 4-2 win in their opener in Dallas, with two goals from Harry Kane in the first half and strikes from Jude Bellingham and substitute Marcus Rashford after the break.

It was not a perfect display, with questions over the defensive strength of Thomas Tuchel’s side, but it was an exciting one for England fans.

Kane and Bellingham were particularly impressive and the win against the best opposition England will face in the group stage sets them up perfectly to progress to the knockout rounds in style.

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World Cup winner Vieira was impressed, but urged England fans not to get too carried away just yet, reminding them that there are better teams in the tournament, especially his own country.

‘It was a really good performance. I think for the first game of a big tournament like that, you can say there were a lot of question marks on England and they answered them quite well,’ Vieira said on The Rest is Football.

‘But you don’t want to build too much excitement. It’s good and I don’t want to take it away, it was a huge performance, a really good performance.

Harry Kane took his England goal tally to 81 (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I think it was one of the best performances so far in the World Cup. On the same level of the French team and Argentina. But there’s still a long way to go.’

Asked how England would do against France if they met, Vieira was dismissive, saying: ‘That’s a real question?

‘The team to beat is France, there’s no doubt about it, I think that is the best team in the competition and I believe they will go to the end and win the World Cup.

‘But I think that England, with what they showed in this first game, can hurt France, yes. But not win it.’

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Tuchel admitted he was not thrilled with the first half display, with the game level at 2-2 at the break, but did enjoy the increased attacking intent and aggression in the second half.

Vieira was impressed with the pace of play England showed, allowing them to overwhelm the ageing Croatia side.

‘I think it was refreshing to see England with a positive attitude and try to dictate the tempo of the game and win the game,’ he said. ‘I think the tempo of the game was so high that I think in the second half, physically they [Croatia] dropped and then England went to dominate and create those situations and score those goals.

‘If they manage to improve the defensive side I think they will be a difficult team to play against.’

Jude Bellingham scored a brilliant third goal straight after half-time (Picture: Getty Images)

Bellingham was also singled out as vital to England’s hopes of winning the World Cup, with the former Arsenal captain saying: ‘To win the World Cup your best player has to play at their best. England are not going to win the World Cup if Bellingham is not at the top of his game.’

Explaining Tuchel’s half-time message, Kane told the BBC: ‘The boss said at half-time to up the tempo, go man for man and completely take the game to them, and that is exactly what happened.

‘You saw us at our best level, both with and without the ball and we could have scored three or four goals in that 20-minute spell in the second half.’

England are back in action on Tuesday night, taking on Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts at 9pm UK time.

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