England's World Cup kit against Croatia will look slightly different, as FIFA has confirmed a late change for the tournament. The Three Lions will wear a special gold sleeve patch to commemorate their 1966 World Cup win during their opening match against Croatia on Wednesday evening in Dallas.
FIFA Confirms Special Patches for Past Winners
American sportswear giants Nike released England's kits for the tournament back in March. However, FIFA has now revealed that any past winners of the World Cup will have a special gold sleeve patch during their matches to celebrate their past successes. These patches will only be seen during designated home games, which includes England's clashes against Croatia and Ghana.
For designated away games, previous winners will don white patches with gold fill. Non-World Cup winners have been handed regular black and white patches for their respective home and away games.
Debut Patches for First-Time Players
The winners' patches are not the only tweak that FIFA has revealed during the tournament. Players making their first appearance at a World Cup will also receive 'debut' patches to wear on their sleeves.
England's World Cup Campaign
Regardless of the kit, England will be hoping for a perfect start to their World Cup campaign. Speaking before the game, Eberechi Eze claimed his success with Arsenal this season could help push the Three Lions to glory.
He said: "I think it's important for the players' confidence to have that under your belt - experience winning, experience achieving what you set out to achieve. It gives you a different level of confidence and for a lot of players to experience that, it's only going to help the team."
The Arsenal winger added: "It's more about focusing on what needs to be done to achieve what we want to achieve. It's not overthinking about the future and how long we're going to be here. It's more the steps towards getting there. We all have goals of course and we know what the goal is for us but focusing on the next game and to win. That's it."
Upcoming Matches
Following their clash with Croatia, England will travel to Foxborough to take on African side Ghana in their second group game. Tuchel's side then faces Panama in their final group game in New Jersey, where they will hope to secure their place in the round of 32.
