Dalić tests the system for England against Belgium: Croatia starts in Rijeka with three defenders
On the day before the friendly match with Belgium, 01 June 2026, Zlatko Dalić clearly indicated what he wants to get from the first final test of the Croatian national football team before departing for the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA. According to the announcement by the Croatian Football Federation, Croatia and Belgium will play on Tuesday, 02 June 2026, from 18:00 at the HNK Rijeka Stadium, and the clash will serve Dalić as a serious tactical test for the tournament opener against England. The head coach announced that Croatia will start against Belgium in a 3-4-2-1 system, a model that could be important for matches against the strongest opponents. Such a decision confirms that the final part of the preparations is not reduced only to checking form, but also to rehearsing mechanisms that could determine the appearance of the national team in Dallas. According to the HNS, Dalić stressed that the match is friendly in character, but also that the result matters because Croatia wants to see where it stands immediately before the start of the World Cup.
Belgium as a mirror for the clash with England
Belgium was chosen as an opponent that can offer exactly what the coaching staff is looking for ahead of the match with England: high individual quality, strong attacking threats and enough athletic power for Croatia to have to be concentrated in defence from the first to the last minute. According to the HNS report from the press conference, Dalić described the Belgian national team as an opponent with several very dangerous players and assessed that the match in Rijeka will show how ready the team is for what follows. Mario Pašalić also, according to the HNS, said that Belgium represents a good test for the first match against England, pointing out that the internationals have completed several tactical training sessions and that after this test there will still be roughly two weeks left for corrections. In that framework, the meeting with Belgium has double importance: on the one hand it brings a competitive rhythm, and on the other it enables an assessment of how much the new player arrangement can be translated into a stable performance. Against Belgium, Croatia will not be looking only for a result, but also for confirmation that the system with three defenders can withstand the pressure of an opponent that has speed and quality in the final third.
According to information from the preparations, four players stand out as certain starting choices: Dominik Livaković should start in goal, while Joško Gvardiol, Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić are expected from the first minute. Such a spine is logical in the context of a match in which Dalić wants to combine security, experience and control of possession. Livaković brings continuity in the goalkeeper position, Gvardiol is crucial for building out from the back line and defending wide spaces, while Modrić and Kovačić remain the central players for organising the play. At the same time, the head coach has not publicly locked in all eleven places in the lineup, and according to the analysis by Sportske novosti, a setup with three centre-backs and a reinforced midfield block is being practised in Rijeka. That means the match against Belgium will not be only a rehearsal of one formation on paper, but also a test of the relationship between the back line, the wide players and the two attacking midfielders behind the striker.
What the 3-4-2-1 system brings
The 3-4-2-1 system can bring Croatia greater protection of the central area and an extra player in the last line, which is especially important against national teams that attack with quick ball progression and vertical runs from the second line. In such an arrangement, the back three must be sufficiently solid in defending the penalty area, but also sufficiently composed in the first phase of build-up. The wide players have a very demanding role because they must close down the width without the ball, while at the same time joining the attack when Croatia establishes possession. The two midfielders in the centre, especially if they are Modrić and Kovačić, are given the task of maintaining the rhythm of the game and preventing the team from becoming too stretched between the lines. The two players behind the most advanced striker need to connect midfield and the final phase, but also help in the press, which is one of the key conditions for the system not to become too low and too passive.
Dalić's intention to try out the 3-4-2-1 against Belgium does not mean that Croatia will play at the World Cup in only one setup. According to the report by gol.hr, the head coach announced that he will use another system against Slovenia and that the team must be ready for both options. Sportske novosti reports that a more offensive approach is being considered for the matches against Panama and Ghana, which is understandable because in those clashes Croatia will be expected to show more initiative and have a larger number of players in the final phase. In that sense, Belgium is an opponent for testing a firmer and more cautious variant, while the final friendly match against Slovenia could serve for a different setup and a different distribution of attacking roles. Flexibility has often been important for Croatia at previous major tournaments, and in the new World Cup format, with three group-stage matches and an expanded knockout phase, the ability to adapt could carry even greater weight.
Gvardiol, Modrić and Kovačić as the foundation of balance
The return and condition of Joško Gvardiol are especially important for Dalić's plan because a system with three defenders requires a centre-back who can defend wide spaces, step into duels far from his own goal and open the attack with quality. According to the HNS, Dalić spoke in the match preview about the importance of Gvardiol and Kovačić, stressing that they mean a great deal to Croatia and that the staff expects them to further raise their level in the remaining days. Gvardiol's role can also be decisive because in a 3-4-2-1 formation the left centre-back often becomes the first creator of attacks when the opponent drops back, but also the player who must close the space behind the wide player in time. Kovačić, on the other hand, is important in carrying the ball through pressure and in maintaining control when the opponent pushes its lines higher. Alongside Modrić, who still remains the central figure in organising the play, Croatia gets a midfield pair that can change the rhythm of the match, slow it down when needed and speed it up when space opens between the opposing lines.
It is precisely against Belgium that it will become clear how much such balance can function against a team that has the individual quality to punish every mistake. If Croatia, with three defenders, manages to maintain compactness and at the same time does not lose the ability to move forward, Dalić will gain an important argument for the same or a similar model against England. If, however, it turns out that the gaps between the lines are too large or that the wide positions remain overloaded, the coaching staff will have enough time for corrections before 17 June. That is why the meeting with Belgium is valuable regardless of the result, although Dalić has clearly said that he does not consider the result in such a match unimportant. The head coach needs a performance that will show that Croatia can be solid, but also brave enough with the ball.
Croatia's schedule at the World Cup
According to FIFA's official schedule and HNS data, Croatia will open its World Cup campaign on 17 June 2026 against England in Dallas. In Group L, the match against Panama in Toronto follows on 23 June, while the clash with Ghana is scheduled for 27 June in Philadelphia. After the draw, the HNS announced that the two top-ranked national teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will qualify for the knockout phase, which makes the group different from earlier editions of the tournament. The first match against England therefore carries special weight because it can define the psychological and points framework of the entire group. Dalić's staff is aware that a good result in the opener can make the continuation of the competition easier, while a poor start to the tournament would increase the pressure before the matches with Panama and Ghana.
According to the HNS, Croatia chose Rijeka for its final preparations, where the national team gathered on 25 May and where it is carrying out the key part of its work before travelling to the USA. After Belgium comes the friendly match with Slovenia on 07 June in Varaždin, and the HNS announced that the departure for Washington is planned two days later. On 18 May, Dalić announced the preliminary list of players for the World Cup, which includes experienced leaders such as Modrić, Kovačić, Gvardiol, Perišić, Kramarić and Livaković, but also younger players who are trying to impose themselves in the final selection of roles. That combination of experience and new solutions will be important precisely in matches like this one with Belgium, in which the head coach must find a balance between proven automatisms and the freshness brought by players who are only just entering greater national-team responsibilities.
Belgium awakens memories of Qatar
Croatia and Belgium last met at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the match ended without goals and Croatia secured qualification for the round of 16 with that result. In its report from that encounter, FIFA highlighted Belgium's pressure in the closing stages and several big chances for Romelu Lukaku, while the HNS at the time announced that Croatia had secured the continuation of the competition with the draw. That clash remained an important part of the national team's recent history because it showed how much details in matches against top opponents can decide qualification from the group. Ahead of the new meeting, Dalić also reflected on Lukaku, stressing, according to the HNS, that he is a big and physically strong player and that Croatia did not progress in Qatar because of Belgian misses, but because of its own reaction in key moments. Such an approach fits well into the current preparations: the head coach wants the team to control what it can control, from the arrangement on the pitch to concentration in defence.
Belgium in Rijeka will not be the same team as in Qatar, but it remains an opponent that can test Croatia's weaknesses. According to the HNS, Dalić said that Belgium is returning toward the top of world football after a decline and singled out new players who bring speed and energy. For Croatia, that is useful because England, the first opponent at the World Cup, also relies on high intensity, quick attackers and individual quality in the final phase. The comparison between Belgium and England is not complete, but it is relevant enough for tactical preparation: both national teams can punish a lost ball in midfield, attack the space behind the wide players and create problems if Croatia is not compact. That is precisely why Dalić is insisting on a model that should reduce the risk in defence, while at the same time leaving enough room for the creativity of Modrić, Kovačić and the players between the lines.
A friendly match with competitive weight
Although it is a friendly encounter, the context gives it competitive weight. Croatia is entering the final phase of preparations with a limited number of training sessions and matches, which means that every decision about the system, roles and player load has a direct impact on the World Cup. According to the HNS, Dalić announced the possibility of a larger number of substitutions against Belgium, but also stressed that he does not want the match to lose its intensity. This shows that the head coach must balance the need to see as many players as possible with the need for at least part of the match to be played at a rhythm as close as possible to a competitive fixture. In such a plan, those who will not start from the first minute are also important, because the final hierarchy is often shaped precisely through reactions in the final tests. For players on the edge of the strongest lineup, the Belgian test can be an opportunity to show how they fit into the system with three defenders or into a possible second variant that follows against Slovenia.
Ahead of the match, Dalić sent a message that Croatia wants to be ready for multiple scenarios. The 3-4-2-1 system in Rijeka should therefore be read as an attempt to prepare a more stable and defensively firmer version of the team for the match with England, not as a final abandonment of earlier models of play. If Belgium shows where the cracks are, the preparations will fulfil their purpose because the coaching staff will get concrete material for corrections. If Croatia at the same time confirms that it can control the match and create a threat going forward, Dalić will have a clearer picture of the lineup and playing style for Dallas before the trip to the USA. In any case, the clash in Rijeka becomes one of the key points of Croatia's preparations: the result will be important for the mood, but even more important will be the answer to the question of whether the announced model can become a real solution for the most demanding start to the group.
Sources:
- Croatian Football Federation – Zlatko Dalić's statement ahead of the friendly match with Belgium and announcement of the 3-4-2-1 system (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – Mario Pašalić's statements about Belgium as a test for England and the national team's preparations (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – preliminary list of Croatia players for the 2026 World Cup and plan of preparatory matches (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – data on Group L, the competition format and the 2026 World Cup draw (link)
- FIFA – official match schedule of the 2026 World Cup and dates of matches in Group L (link)
- Sportske novosti – tactical analysis of Croatia's plan with three defenders ahead of the matches with Belgium and England (link)
- gol.hr – information about the time of the Croatia – Belgium match, the broadcast and Dalić's announcement of preparatory systems (link)
- FIFA – report on the Croatia – Belgium 0:0 match at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (link)