England Hand Croatia Heaviest-ever Defeat In 7-0 Thrashing
England handed Croatia their heaviest defeat in history after thrashing them 7-0 in their UEFA Nations League encounter in Rijeka on Saturday.
Harry Kane opened the scoring in the eighth minute after running onto a threaded pass from Jude Bellingham before firing past the Croatian goalkeeper.
Bellingham doubled England’s lead in the 21st minute, while Anthony Gordon made it 3-0 in the 39th minute.
Bukayo Saka added England’s fourth in first-half stoppage time.
Kane scored his second in the 53rd minute before Saka struck again in the 68th to make it 6-0.
Substitute Morgan Rogers completed the rout in the 87th minute.
The result marked Croatia’s first-ever seven-goal defeat and surpassed their previous heaviest losses, including a 5-1 defeat by England in 2009.
The match was played before an unusual crowd of about 6,000 schoolchildren after Croatia were subjected to a UEFA spectator sanction following previous supporter disturbances.
Bellingham finished the game with a goal and three assists, while Kane and Saka scored twice each.
The victory moved England to six points in Group A3, level with Spain, who had a game in hand at the time of the match.
