England thrashed Croatia 5-0 in an eerie, near-empty Stadion HNK Rijeka on Saturday 3 October 2026, with Harry Kane scoring twice as Thomas Tuchel's side ran riot in their UEFA Nations League Group A3 fixture. The match kicked off at 5pm BST and was played behind closed doors because of a UEFA disciplinary sanction on the Croatian federation.
It was a one-sided evening from the start, and the scoreline left England firmly back on track in their 2026/27 Nations League campaign following their opening defeat to Spain.
Kane at the double as England cut loose
England went 1 Jordan Pickford, 3 Lewis Hall, 4 Alex Scott, 5 Ezri Konsa, 6 Marc Guéhi, 7 Bukayo Saka, 8 Elliot Anderson, 9 Harry Kane, 10 Jude Bellingham, 11 Anthony Gordon, 22 Jarell Quansah into the game, and it did not take long for the visitors to make their superiority count.
Kane opened the scoring in the 8th minute, before Jude Bellingham added a second in the 21st. Anthony Gordon made it three just before the half-hour mark, and Bukayo Saka struck right on the stroke of half-time to send England in 0 5 — in fact the scoreline at the break already read a commanding 0-4. Kane then completed his brace early in the second half to make it five, rounding off a near-perfect display against opponents England had already beaten 4-2 at the World Cup earlier in the summer.
Why was the game played without fans?
Saturday's match was played with no Croatia fans and only 100 England supporters in attendance, a decision made by UEFA as a result of crowd trouble during Croatia's Nations League quarter-final encounter with France last year.
A familiar punishment for Rijeka
It was the second time in eight years that a Nations League game between Croatia and England had been played behind closed doors at Stadion HNK Rijeka, after fans were banned from attending in 2018 due to a swastika having been marked on the pitch during a game against Italy prior to that. That 2018 meeting between the same two sides finished goalless.
Thousands of schoolchildren inside
Despite the ban on regular supporters, UEFA rules allowed a large number of local schoolchildren to fill much of the stadium. Croatian football officials expected between 5,500 and 6,000 children to fill the 8,200-seat stadium, alongside roughly 100 England supporters let in through a special arrangement between UEFA and the FA.
Tuchel's changes pay off
Thomas Tuchel had named his England team for their first rematch since a 4-2 win for the Three Lions at the FIFA World Cup 2026 this summer, making five changes to his starting line-up.
The head coach handed a first England start to Alex Scott, who made his debut for the senior team in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Czechia. Jude Bellingham returned to the team, looking to score against Croatia as he did in the summer, while the front three of Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka remained unchanged.
Jordan Pickford was back into the starting line-up as goalkeeper, replacing James Trafford, while Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah, who both started against Spain, came in for Trevoh Chalobah and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the back four. The return of Jordan Pickford between the posts proved a quiet night's work, with Croatia barely threatening throughout.
What this means for Group A3
Before kick-off, England headed into the game with three points from their opening two matches, having lost at home to Spain before bouncing back with a win away to Czechia, a result that saw them go second in their group, three points behind leaders Spain and level on points with Croatia.
The Rijeka rout changes that picture significantly, lifting England clear of Croatia in the table and keeping the pressure on Spain at the top, after the dramatic Nations League defeat at Wembley that opened England's campaign. Croatia, meanwhile, remain without a win from three outings.
What comes next
England will get the chance to host Croatia later in the Nations League campaign, with the return fixture scheduled for 12 November at Wembley, a match not affected by UEFA sanctions, meaning supporters will have the opportunity to watch the sides face off inside the stadium. Attention for both nations now turns to how they build on contrasting nights as the race for the Nations League knockout stages continues.