JOHN Stones made his 90th appearance for England as he helped them make a winning start to the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday.
The centre-back was selected by Thomas Tuchel ahead of Marc Guehi to partner Ezri Konsa in the 4-2 win against Croatia in Dallas.
The defence was exposed by two Croatia equalisers in the first half but England netted twice after the break to secure three points.
Stones, 32, is the 14th man to reach 90 caps for England, passing Michael Owen and drawing level with Bryan Robson and current team-mate Jordan Henderson.
He is the only outfield player to have started every England game in the last five major tournaments.
England are now due to face Ghana on Tuesday then complete their group games against Panama the following Saturday.
There are then four knock-out rounds including the final on July 19.
Stones, from Thurlstone, came through the Oakwell academy and played 28 games for the first team in 2012 and 2013.
He has since been a regular in the Premier League with Everton then Manchester City, who he has now left.
Another former Barnsley player, Ivan Toney, was an unused substitute for England’s opener.
Ex-Reds Owen Goodman and Chris Wood are with Canada and New Zealand while Dean Gorre is the assistant manager of Curacao.
