World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why England lost to Croatia

#2 England's defence showed inexperience

England are heartbroken as Croatia score their second goal

Credit where it's due, Stones, Walker and Maguire have been formidable at the back. However, England were forced to have the rare experience of having to deal with relentless attacking. Colombia did take the game to England and at times, the backline did look shaky.

When the Croats upped the ante in the second half, England started to look panicky at the back. Suddenly, Harry Maguire was hurrying his clearances, Walker's backpasses were underweighted and Stones was having issues communicating with Pickford.

Though the two goals that went in should be credited to Croatia's ability rather than England's lack of it, the defenders will know that they would have had it easier against the Croats if they'd remained calm and sure-footed during the tough latter half of the game.

Perisic reacted ahead of Trippier and Walker for the first and Mandzukic did it for the second. The defenders would definitely not want to watch those goals again.