The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” echoed around the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, followed by Oasis’s “Wonderwall” and the traditional “Sweet Caroline”. For a moment, it could have been a karaoke night down the pub. But this was England’s World Cup opener against Croatia, a game that ended 4-2 – the same scoreline that sent older fans recalling the 1966 triumph at Wembley 60 years ago.
Harry Kane scored twice, his second coming from a Declan Rice corner which he headed home to give England a 2-1 lead. The striker’s brother Charlie was among those celebrating in the stands. But the game remained on a knife-edge until Marcus Rashford’s 85th-minute goal sealed the win, prompting a stadium-wide rendition of “Football’s Coming Home”.
“Harry Kane scores twice as England beat Croatia 4-2 in World Cup opener in Dallas.”
Mirror journalist Andy Lines, in Dallas, described the match as “a privilege” to witness inside the “Palace in Dallas”. At times it felt like “a chaotic FA Cup third round tie”, at others an “amazing world sporting experience – a mixture of a World Cup match and an American sporting Super Bowl-style occasion.”
Just last week, hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst had told Lines: “I hope the boys win it for the lads of ’66.”
An hour before kick-off, Lines ventured onto the concourse and met Jessica Long, a 40-year-old finance transformation leader who used to work in Paddington. She shook his hand, excitedly wanting to talk about the World Cup coming to her home city. “This is brilliant what an amazing day,” she said. “The World Cup is fantastic – look at everyone coming together.”
Fifty minutes before the game, the American national anthem was sung, with all Americans inside the stadium joining in while Croatian and English fans stood in respectful silence.
Lines noted an extraordinary variety of club shirts: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle United and West Ham – most worn by Americans, a sign of the Premier League’s global power. Flags from towns and villages across England – from Accrington to Penzance – told stories of long, expensive journeys.
Now the travelling army begins plotting its route to Boston and then New York. The World Cup journey has only just begun.