Three Lions captain Harry Kane opened the scoring on 12 minutes from the penalty spot at the second time of asking.
His first spot-kick was saved by Dominik Livakovic but it had be taken again with the Fenerbahce goalkeeper adjudged to have encroached off his line with the Bayern Munich forward making no mistake with the subsequent attempt.
Croatia levelled on 36 minutes with an impressive strike, Como midfielder Martin Baturina slamming home from distance.
Kane was on target again just before the break on 42 minutes with a powerful header from a pinpoint Declan Rice corner.
But FC Dallas striker Petar Musa levelled in first half stoppage time with a sidefoot finish after a fine lay-off from veteran winger Ivan Perisic.
Jude Bellingham put the Three Lions back ahead shortly after the restart, Elliot Anderson feeding the Real Madrid midfielder who advanced and slammed past Livakovic.
Bellingham had a chance to extend the lead even further moments later, firing straight at Livakovic when well-placed before O’Reilly missed another opportunity to put England further ahead, heading wide at the back post from Rice’s corner.
Rice, Kane and Ezri Konsa all went close as the Three Lions piled on the pressure while Mateo Kovacic replaced Luka Modric on the hour mark as Zlatko Dalic shuffled his pack.
City midfielder Kovacic had a long-range effort well stopped by Jordan Pickford as Croatia looked to level but Marcus Rashford gave England the goal that secured the win following an impressive move on 85 minutes.
Goalkeeper James Trafford was an unused sub for the Three Lions while former Blue John Stones started in Dallas Stadium.
England follow up their victory with a clash against Ghana next Tuesday, the 21:00 (UK) kick-off taking place at Boston Stadium.
Gvardiol and Kovacic are back in action next Wednesday with a Midnight (UK) start against Panama in Toronto Stadium.
Meanwhile, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes were both unused substitutes in Portugal’s opening 1-1 World Cup draw with Congo DR.
PSG midfielder João Neves opened the scoring on six minutes in the Group K clash with a terrific header into goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi’s far corner.
Congo DR levelled in stoppage time at the end of the first half in the Houston Stadium encounter, Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa producing an equally impressive header from six yards out to equalise.
Former Blue Joao Cancelo thought he’d put Roberto Martinez’s men ahead just after the break as the full-back produced a brilliant bicycle kick finish from a cross by Bruno Fernandes.
But the defender, who made 154 appearances for the Blues across four seasons, was flagged offside moments after celebrating.
Our former skipper Bernardo Silva, who today joined Real Madrid on a two-year deal, started the game but was substituted at half-time by Martinez after picking up a yellow card in the first period.
Portugal’s next assignment comes against Abdukodir Khusanov’s Uzbekistan next Tuesday with an 18:00 kick-off at Houston Stadium.
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