England thrash Croatia 7-0 in record Nations League victory

England inflicted Croatia’s heaviest defeat with a 7-0 victory in their Nations League meeting in Rijeka on Saturday, taking their points total to six in Group A3. The visitors established control early and led 4-0 at half-time. Harry Kane opened the scoring in the eighth minute after running onto a pass from Jude Bellingham and finishing past the Croatian goalkeeper.

Bellingham added England’s second in the 21st minute, before Anthony Gordon struck in the 39th. Bukayo Saka then scored in first-half stoppage time to give England a commanding advantage at the interval. Kane completed his brace in the 53rd minute, and Saka scored again in the 68th to make it 6-0.

Substitute Morgan Rogers completed the scoring three minutes before the end of normal time. Bellingham finished with one goal and three assists, while Kane and Saka each scored twice. Gordon’s goal was his fourth in his last four England matches, according to Channels Television.

The result was Croatia’s first seven-goal defeat and exceeded their previous heaviest losses, including a 5-1 defeat by England in 2009. England’s performance was also described as the biggest win of Thomas Tuchel’s tenure. The match was played in front of about 6,000 schoolchildren, with 100 England supporters also allowed to attend.

Croatia had been subject to a UEFA spectator sanction after previous crowd disturbances, resulting in an unusual atmosphere at the Stadion HNK Rijeka. England were level on six points with Spain, which had a match in hand at the time of the game. England were due to conclude the international break against the Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday.