KANSAS CITY — England’s much-vaunted attack clicked impressively in their opening World Cup win over Croatia, but defensive fears linger as they attempt to seal a place in the knockouts on Tuesday.

Thomas Tuchel’s men were twice pegged back in the first half in Arlington, Texas, before upping their game to win 4-2.

It was an impressive performance against an experienced if ageing Croatia team, but there will be stiffer challenges ahead against sides who boast more pace and firepower such as France, Spain and Argentina.

Next up for England are Ghana in Boston – the Three Lions will go through to the last 32 as Group L winners if they beat the African side and Panama fail to beat Croatia.

On the surface, the problem is not obvious. After all, England breezed through qualifying without conceding a single goal in eight matches.

But their defence has two major weaknesses – a lack of experience and a worrying injury record.

Former England defender Gary Neville, now a Sky Sports pundit, said the team’s first-half display against the Croats would have unnerved them.

“I think that it will make Thomas Tuchel adjust for maybe games two and three, and make him think slightly differently about how he sort of maybe plays that defence, and how he looks at protecting them,” he said.

The head coach opted to leave three players with significant tournament experience at home – Real Madrid right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United pair Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire.

England lost Tino Livramento to injury before they had kicked a ball in anger, replacing him with Trevoh Chalobah, who has just one cap under his belt.