World Cup LIVE: England's joy as fans bask in aftermath of thrilling opening match triumph

Officers pulled over drivers at random outside Durham city centre and asked them to take a roadside breath test during Thursday morning's rush hour.

Police mounted a drink-drive campaign after England's 4-2 win against Croatia. Statistics have shown there are around 20% more collisions on England match days, Durham Constabulary reported.

With World Cup games in North America kicking off later in the evening in the UK than at most tournaments, there are concerns drivers could be drinking later at night and still be over the limit the next morning.

None of the drivers failed the breath test when the Press Association was at the scene, although one was shocked to find they were close to the limit.

Sergeant Sarah Manser said: "We come out this morning to give that message that alcohol still might be in your system the next morning. We've had a couple this morning already who haven't blown over the limit, but they have had alcohol in the system. Please just don’t and drink-and-drive, it’s just as simple as that."

Driver Louis Renwick, who passed the test with no alcohol in his system, welcomed the initiative, saying: "There’s too many deaths on the roads through drink-driving."

Hundreds of England fans bought 5,000 beers from one Texas pub as the venue made a staggering £30,000 in one night.

Fans headed to the Londoner Pub in Dallas, Texas, as the spot advertised a later closing time than other places.

Police quickly took over the venue at the start of the match, with videos showing cops telling fans to get out as they sang the national anthem. The pub had reached maximum capacity and only had two secuty guards working.

2,352 bottles of beer were sold at the Dallas pub last night, with more than 5,000 beers drunk. The pub made more than £30,000 on the evening.

Thomas Tuchel heaped praise on "full package" Harry Kane as well as fellow goalscorers Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Bellingham and substitute Rashford found the net during a vastly improved second-period display in Texas, for Englan's win against Croatia. Kane's first-half brace saw him equal Gary Lineker's 10-goal record as England's top scoring player at a World Cup.

Tuchel said: "If you see the commitment of our captain, of our number nine, in the extra time to block a crucial shot after a set piece with all his body and his commitment to buy into a defensive action like this, then you know everything about his performance today.

"Complete performance, absolute leader and he is all in – he's all in physically, he’s all in mentally, and he's all in."

He also praised Belligham, saying: "You can rely on Jude in these moments. He loves these pressure games. That brings out the best in him, so that’s an easy decision to let him play and to trust him."

On Rashford, Tuchel said: "We just had a talk (on Tuesday) where I told him that I'm very, very impressed with his last 16 days – how he was in camp, how he pushes on the field.

"He is totally invested in every meeting. He is very, very fast in translating a meeting onto the pitch, what we want tactically. He pushes on a very respectful level with Anthony Gordon on the position, so at the moment he's in a very good place."

England captain Harry Kane says seeing rivals Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland make flying starts at the World Cup is driving him on in the bid to win the Golden Boot.

Kane is looking to become the first man in history to finish as top scorer twice after first accomplishing the feat in 2018.

Twenty-four hours after watching Mbappe and Haaland both bag braces in their opening matches, the Bayern Munich striker followed suit with a double in England’s 4-2 Group L opener against Croatia on Wednesday. Messi also scored a hattrick for Argentina in their win against Algeria.

Kane said: "Obviously I saw the guys scoring their goals. I don't like to concentrate on other people, but it is natural as a sportsman and athlete to want to reach the highest level. Those guys started in a great way.

"As a striker myself, I just want to get on the scoresheet as quickly as possible. In the back of my mind that competition helps me to push my levels. That is what the World Cup is for, to push myself at the highest level, so it is nice to get a couple."

What a start for England. It was a privilege to be inside the "Palace in Dallas" to watch the start of their World Cup campaign.

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.

But at the end it was a like a karaoke night down the pub. They bellowed the Beatles hit "Hey Jude", Oasis's "Wonderwall" and the traditional "Sweet Caroline".

England fans were on tenterhooks all game but burst into a stadium wide rendition of "Football's Coming Home" after Marcus Rashford's 85th minute goal which sealed the win.

There was an extraordinary atmosphere. American Jessica Long came up to me and shook my hand - excitedly wanting to talk about the World Cup coming to her home city. As a former London marathon competitor she had actually ran past my flat in London.

She said: "This is brilliant what an amazing day. the World Cup is fantastic - look at everyone coming together."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

England's odds have been cut to 13/2 (from 8/1) to win the World Cup after last night's win.

Lewis Knowles, Betway's spokesperson, said: ''After a shaky end to the first half, England were excellent in the second 45, and that was a real statement win from Thomas Tuchel's men.

"They undoubtedly answered a lot of critics last night, and although there hadn't been much confidence in them in the market at 8/1 going into the game, the Three Lions are now 13/2 to go all the way, and there seems to be a real belief that football might actually come home this summer.''

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Kyle Walker admits Thomas Tuchel's ability to change the game in England's World Cup opener is what separates him from predecessor Gareth Southgate.

The German ensured that the Three Lions began their tournament with a win, despite twice being pegged back by Croatia. The teams went in at half-time drawing 2-2, before Tuchel had the chance to make tweaks to his side, which had an instant impact.

Tuchel has earned huge plaudits for how he changed the outlook of the game, but Walker concedes that was not a strength of Southgate's.

He wrote in The Sun: "When I look back at the tournaments I played under Gareth Southgate, there is a difference compared to how Thomas Tuchel operates.

"It is the way that, against Croatia, Tuchel made substitutions at the correct time and brought fresh legs on. Gareth tended to stick with the XI he trusted in and only made a few changes here and there.

"I was part of that XI so it benefited me, but sometimes when you’re on the field, you’re thinking 'go on, make a change, do something' and Thomas got that right. If you’ve got Saka, Rogers and Rashford coming on when they did with about 20 minutes left, it would scare any team in the world."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

After conceding two goals in the first half against Croatia England bounced back with an increidble performance in the second half.

Jude Bellingham kicked things off with a goal two minutes into the second half then Marcus Rashford later wrapped up the match with a 4th goal.

After the win, Harry Kane revealed what Tuchel told the squad in the changing room at half-time. The England captain said: "He told us to take the shackles off, calm down and let's go. He said what's the worst that can happen? Show the world who we can be.

"We came out in the second half full gas and they couldn't live with it, and that's the level we have to set in every game. The way we controlled the game once we went ahead, we never really looked like we were in danger and then scored on the counterattack."

A drone flying near South Korea's training camp was brought down by the military in Mexico.

South Korea faces Mexico tonight in the second round of matches for Group A in the tournament. The military said it used specialised equipment to detect an "unregistered drone. It is not clear if the drone was spying on the team ahead of the match.

South Korean coach Hong Myung-bo dubbed the incident "unfortunate". He said: "During our training, there was a drone in the sky that we came to know about the fact. But fortunately, it was right before we practised our tactics, so it did not impact us.

"But while we were preparing for the match, that was the most important timing, so what happened was unfortunate."

Dietmar Hamann admitted he's changed his mind about Jude Bellingham after praising his team spirit in England's winning start to the World Cup 2026.

Bellingham is competing in his fourth international tournament for England at the age of 22 and has routinely come up trumps for club and country since his teenage years.

His remarkable on-field presence and confidence have led some to brand him as arrogant - a label Wayne Rooney told the midfielder he must embody because of his superb talent.

Ex-Liverpool star Hamann, who played in two World Cup tournaments for Germany, covered England's game for RTE and admitted there were aspects of Bellingham's antics that he wasn't a fan of during his time at Borussia Dortmund.

He said: "I saw him for Dortmund for a couple of seasons, and some of the things he did I didn't like at all."

However, he cited Bellingham's triumph of the Champions League in his debut season in Spain and his performance against Croatia as the heights he's reached when committing to play in a team system.

Hamann added: "I wasn't sure about him going to Madrid, but I have got to say the way he made the transition to Madrid and winning the Champions League in his first year, there is huge pressure to perform, and tonight he looked like a team player. When he does play for the team, when he does work for his team-mates, we know he's an excellent player."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Jude Bellingham believes playing with a "chip on my shoulder" will bring the best out of him at the World Cup.

The England midfielder scored the vital third goal as Thomas Tuchel's side opened their campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia, in Dallas.

There were questions surrounding Bellingham's inclusion in Tuchel’s squad for the tournament after missing the September and October camps through injury.

That absence followed last summer's international window which ended in Tuchel saying his mother found Bellingham's behaviour "repulsive", while his ability to buy into Tuchel's "brotherhood" has also come under scrutiny.

Bellingham told BBC Sport: "For me personally, it was nice to put some of the noise aside and just show my country and my team-mates how committed I am to help us try to win football matches. It was a great team performance.

"Second half, we got things right, first half we got the intensity right, but not quite with the ball and second half we put it all together nicely. To contribute, to help my team and help my country is one of the biggest honours and regardless of the noise outside, that honour doesn't change for me at all.

"It has been a tough season for me but I am feeling fresh and sharp and stronger. I have got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. That helps me a lot to find that focus early in the game and to find that intensity.

I know that it's part of being a footballer and I don't hold a grudge against anyone who says bad things about me because sometimes I do deserve it. Today, it was nice to try to show people and remind people what I'm about."

A pub in Dallas was forced to close during a watch party for England's 4-2 win over Croatia.

The Londoner Pub in Dallas said the fire marshal ordered an early closure time after “the mayhem that descended on us” with footage on social media showing the venue again crowded with England supporters.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the pub said: “We are closed for the rest of the day, on order of the fire marshal.

“Thank you to those of us who saw the mayhem that descended upon us and understand we did our very best to manage the situation.

“The sales are overinflated in reports and do not account for the destruction of our property and landscaping.

“We are incredibly grateful for the business and have done our absolute best to manage it.

“Reminder to our guests: We are in a complex of other businesses, but there are also residences in Mockingbird Station.”

So, day seven of the FIFA 2026 World Cup is complete, but what do we have to look forward to on day eight?

The action gets underway at 5pm UK time with the Czech Republic taking on South Africa. Both sides lost their opening games, so they can’t afford another slip-up here.

Switzerland then take on Bosnia-Herzegovina at 8pm in a Group B clash before another game in that group sees Canada face Qatar at 11pm.

Group B is incredibly tight, with all four sides on a point each. The action for day eight then concludes in the early hours of Friday morning with Mexico taking on South Korea.

A win for either side in that Group A clash is likely to see them book their place in the knockout rounds of the competition.

Could the biggest claim of the tournament have already been made?

Yoane Wissa scored the equaliser as the Democratic Republic of Congo frustrated Portugal at the start of Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth World Cup campaign on Wednesday.

However, Ronaldo was virtually anonymous in the game. He had two half-chances from pull-backs but couldn't convert.

Some felt Roberto Martinez should have taken the former Real Madrid and Manchester United man off, but speaking on 5 Live, Chris Sutton believes the Portugal boss is too scared to do that.

He said: "That is embarrassing. That is embarrassing for Roberto Martinez. Are we all watching a different game to Martinez? He is scared to take him off.

“He is not the manager. He might score the winner, but the game has passed him by. He is a brilliant player. He was once the playmaker, but now he is the poacher. He is not only the poacher, but he runs the estate."

Jude Bellingham has confessed to playing with a 'chip on his shoulder' during England's impressive 4-2 triumph over Croatia, as debate continues to rage over his place in the starting line-up. The Real Madrid superstar was among the standout performers for the Three Lions during a commanding second-half showing in Dallas.

Bellingham netted England's third goal of the evening as Thomas Tuchel's men dismantled their European rivals in a dominant second 45 minutes. The German head coach acknowledged that the Real Madrid midfielder was far from guaranteed a starting berth ahead of the fixture, with the impressive Morgan Rogers pushing hard for the same spot.

Yet it was Bellingham who earned the nod to lead the charge against Croatia, and he wasted no time in justifying his manager's faith. Reflecting on Bellingham's performance after the final whistle, Tuchel said: "A very good player, he deserved to start, and that's what he needs to do to fight for his place."

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