England thrash Croatia 7-0 in Thomas Tuchel’s biggest win

England delivered their most convincing performance since Thomas Tuchel became manager by defeating Croatia 7-0 in their UEFA Nations League meeting in Rijeka.

The match was officially played behind closed doors after Croatia were punished for previous misconduct by their supporters. However, around 6,000 schoolchildren and 100 travelling England fans were permitted to attend.

England had begun their campaign with a defeat by Spain at Wembley before recovering to beat the Czech Republic in Prague. Their display in Croatia was a significant improvement, with Tuchel’s side taking control early and maintaining their dominance throughout.

They went ahead after only eight minutes when Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol made a mistake. Harry Kane seized on the error, received Jude Bellingham’s pass and calmly found a way past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

Bellingham added the second in the 21st minute. Anthony Gordon controlled Bukayo Saka’s cross at the far post and laid the ball back for Bellingham, who finished from close range.

Gordon soon got on the scoresheet himself. The forward headed in Jarell Quansah’s delivery to make it 3-0 and extend his scoring sequence to four goals in four matches.

Croatia were unable to contain England’s attacking movement, and Saka increased the lead before half-time. He converted another assist from Bellingham to give the visitors a four-goal advantage at the interval.

England continued in the same fashion after the restart rather than allowing Croatia a route back into the contest. Kane scored his second goal eight minutes into the second half, arriving at the far post to slide in and meet Elliot Anderson’s cross.

Croatia’s defensive difficulties continued, and Saka punished another mistake to claim his second goal of the evening. That made it 6-0 and underlined England’s complete control.

Substitute Morgan Rogers completed the scoring after rounding Livakovic, giving England their biggest victory of the Tuchel era.

The result came 108 days after England defeated Croatia 4-2 at the World Cup in Dallas. It provided Tuchel with a highly satisfying response after the opening loss to Spain and left England with back-to-back victories in the competition.