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Published : 17 Jun 2026, 10:59 AM
Zlatko Dalic warned his Croatia team over the enduring goal-scoring qualities of Harry Kane as the 2018 World Cup runners-up prepare to take on England in their Group L opener at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday.
Kane arrives at the World Cup in devastating form after scoring 61 goals in 51 matches in all competitions for Bayern Munich last season and Dalic is wary of the England captain.
"They have the best striker in the world, they have Kane and Kane can do a hell of a lot," said Dalic. "We will do a lot, we will do our best not only to defend ourselves but to attack, to go forward.
"There will be set pieces, which will be quite difficult but we are prepared for that. I expect a great game and it will be a great preparation for the next two games in the group."
Kane's former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Luka Modric remains central to the Croatia side and the 40-year-old will be making his 199th appearance for his country on Wednesday.
"He means a lot, both as a captain of our team and as a person," Dalic said of the AC Milan midfielder. "He is my right hand on the pitch.
"It means a lot to the team that we have a couple of older players alongside Luka who are leading the younger players and they can do very good things.
"They are very lucky to have him, Luka, as a role model in how to fight for the national team jersey and we're lucky to still have him with us."
Modric and Dalic have been central to Croatia's success at the last two World Cup tournaments.
The country were runners-up in 2018, when they defeated England in the semi-finals, before also reaching the last four in 2022, only to lose to eventual champions Argentina.
"That's history for us," Dalic said of his team's track record at the tournament. "We can't just live in history; it's new matches and a new World Cup where we want to do very good things.
"We have very high expectations and everybody is expecting a lot from Croatia. This was not the case before but we are ready for this.
"What is behind us is history; it remains written but we are ready for these major expectations, to present ourselves in the best possible light.
"We were quite close at the last two World Cups and nobody expected this, but our first objective is to go through the group stage."
