England continue their Nations League campaign with a trip to face Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday.
The two familiar foes go head-to-head behind closed doors this evening, meeting for the first time since a six-goal thriller in the opening round of this summer’s World Cup. Three Lions fans will need no reminder of how that tournament ended for Thomas Tuchel’s men, but the Croatians – now with journeyman boss Slaven Bilić back at the helm – faced a gut-wrenching exit of their own across the pond and will be keen to secure a first victory over the English since the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.
Both countries have a win and a loss under their belts so far in this international break, setting tonight’s contest up as the likely decider of who will conclude the current block of fixtures in Group A3’s second position behind dominant world champions Spain.
We will bring you all of the latest team news, updates and analysis from the Stadion HNK Rijeka, right here in our dedicated live blog.
Follow the match live with The i Paper below…
Big day for Scott
Whatever happens on the pitch, it’s a big day for Alex Scott as the Bournemouth midfielder makes his full debut for England, lining up in the engine room with Elliot Anderson.
Both men will no doubt have a busy evening, with Anderson’s veteran Man City teammate Mateo Kovacic in the centre of the park for the opposition alongside the one and only Luka Modric.
Croatia team news: Modric leads hosts, Gvardiol and Kovacic in line-up
As illustrated below by Mark’s post, Luka Modric captains Croatia, 20 years after he first played against England, having been named in Slavin Bilic’s line-up alongside the likes of Manchester City duo Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic and Brighton’s Luka Vuskovic…
Croatia XI: Livakovic; Stanisic, Vuskovic, Gvardiol, Perisic; Modric, Kovacic; Ivanovic, Sucic, Baturina; Musa
Subs: Pandur, Kotarski, Smolcic, Sutalo, Kramaric, Vlasic, Pasalic, Jakic, Pasalic, Matanovic, Sucic, Misic
Analysis: What does Tuchel want from Trent?
Reporting from Stadion HNK Rijeka
Interesting England side, that.
Pleased to see Alex Scott in the line-up and Lewis Hall starts again.
No Trent Alexander-Arnold is interesting given Thomas Tuchel said just yesterday that it’s approaching ‘now or never’ time in an England shirt for the Real Madrid man.
Reaction to England’s line-up
Thoughts, folks?
As mentioned, it’s a first England start for Alex Scott, ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Pickford returned in goal after having to watch James Trafford start the opening two games of the Nations League campaign.
Jude Bellingham is back in the starting line-up, so too Ezri Konsa and Jordan Pickford – all expected changes, with Morgan Rogers, Trevoh Chalobah and James Trafford dropping out.
Jarrel Quansah starting at right-back instead of Trent Alexander-Arnold is a potential eyebrow-raiser after the latter’s performance against Czechia.
Lewis Hall stays at left-back with Nico O’Reilly returning to Manchester City to rehab an injury.
There are no surprises in the frontline given the form of Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka for both club and country at the moment.
England team news – Quansah over Trent, Bellingham and Pickford back, Scott starts
The Three Lions line-up in full…
England XI: Pickford; Quansah, Konsa, Guehi, Hall; Anderson, Scott; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Subs: Alexander-Arnold, Chalobah, Trafford, Ngumoha, Branthwaite, Lewis-Skelly, Rogers, Garner, Calvert-Lewin, Gibbs-White, Eze, Steele
England XI: Scott and Quansah start
Here it is!
Quansah does indeed replace Trent at right-back, while Jude Bellingham, Ezri Konsa and Jordan Pickford all return.
There’s a first competitive start for Alex Scott, meanwhile, the highly rated Bournemouth man joining Elliot Anderson in midfield.
Your #ThreeLions for Saturday night
— England (@England) October 3, 2026pic.twitter.com/A2M4lMfBNj
Quansah in for Trent – reports
Jarell Quansah is set to start ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, BBC Sport reports, despite the latter’s promising display earlier this week.
We will bring you confirmation of whether that’s true in the next few minutes.
Will Tuchel rotate?
We will have confirmed team news to bring you all very shortly, but in the meantime a little speculation as to what we could see from Thomas Tuchel’s line-up today can’t hurt!
The England boss said he would have loved to name his strongest team for all four Nations League matches in this international break, but that has not been possible already due to injury and a decision to rotate.
Jude Bellingham started Tuesday’s match against Czechia on the bench and looks certain to come back into the side, with Ezri Konsa also likely to return in the defence after overcoming a niggle.
Jordan Pickford, meanwhile, will return between the posts after watching James Trafford start in goal for the opening two games against Spain and Czechia.
It was always the plan for the Everton stopper to return for this game, but Tuchel’s decision to give Trafford the gloves suggests Pickford’s position as number one is no longer assured. He will want to have a positive game against Croatia to remind everyone of his status, then.
Nico O’Reilly, however, has returned to Manchester City and will not feature in the remainder of the international camp due to injury.
Bukayo Saka and the in-form Anthony Gordon have started out wide in both games so far and Tuchel could contemplate swapping them, with Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Rio Ngumoha and Morgan Gibbs-White – who has made two cameo appearances as a left winger after a late call-up in place of the injured Cole Palmer – among those hoping to start.
Questions remain over whether Trent Alexander-Arnold will remain at right-back or Jarell Quansah will return.
Kane: Life in LaLiga has lifted Gordon and Alexander-Arnold to new heights
Kane himself hailed England’s “difference maker” Anthony Gordon and returning star Trent Alexander-Arnold after the LaLiga-based pair impressed in Tuesday’s win against Czechia.
Gordon broke the deadlock that day by heading home a wonderful Alexander-Arnold cross just after the break, meaning the 25-year-old has now scored in his last three international appearances.
His summer move from Newcastle to Barcelona may have helped take Gordon’s game to a new level, Kane feels.
“I think sometimes going to a big club like that gives you more self-belief, more confidence,” the England skipper said. “You feel like you belong on the biggest stage and I think he’s taken that into his England performances.
“He was outstanding against Spain on Saturday, again today he was the difference maker. He was always looking to be direct and be the one to get us ahead and a great finish from him as well. A lovely ball by Trent, but those finishes aren’t easy and he took it really well.”
Real Madrid right-back Alexander-Arnold’s assist was key in a promising first start under Tuchel, with the former Liverpool star previously appearing to have no international future under the German coach before injuries helped lead to his first call-up since June 2025.
“Trent’s outstanding,” Kane said. “The delivery, the passing range, the crossing but also today defensively he was outstanding.
“From our point of view, you know he’s a fantastic player. Trent just has to keep his head down, keep working hard. He’s been great in camp so far, the way he’s trained, the way he’s pushed himself and pushed others around him.
“So, look, I think he’s showing to the boss that he wants to be here, wants to be in this team and he’s done a fantastic performance today. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of games.”
Tuchel warns that England will not find another Harry Kane
On the topic of skippers, Thomas Tuchel warned this week that England “will not get another Harry Kane” as the free-scoring striker drives towards record numbers without any clear sign of a successor.
The 33-year-old is in the form of his life, with his 73 goals for club and country last season making the Bayern Munich frontman favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.
Kane has started in a similar vein this term, putting the disappointment of his costly penalty miss against Spain aside by scoring in this week’s 2-0 win in Czechia to make it two goals in as many international games since the World Cup.
That extended Kane’s national team record to 87 goals and it seems a matter of when rather than if he racks up a century; indeed, Tuchel said with a smile that at this rate it will only take 13 matches.
“The highest level of goalscorer, of finishing,” the England boss said of Kane, who can equal Peter Shilton’s 125-cap appearance record at home to Czechia next week if he plays in Croatia tonight.
“He is the first one to push everyone and that is his mindset and he became a very, very hardworking forward on top of his finishing skills. He is a complete package.”
Kane is one of the best strikers of his generation, but his back-up has long been a headache for England.
Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney filled that role at the last two tournaments but the Saudi Arabia-based pair are also in their thirties and were overlooked for these Nations League fixtures. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 29, was selected this time and who succeeds Kane is an ever bigger issue, with Liam Delap the only English number nine under the age of 27 to have scored a Champions League goal.
Having been told of that statistic, Tuchel said: “You will not get another Harry Kane, first of all.
“We look for different options and solutions. We finished the game with Jude (Bellingham) up front as a number nine. There will be someone else, but it will not be Harry or a copy of Harry. We will find a solution when it comes to it but maybe not me. It might be another 10 years.”
Tuchel did, however, say that Bellingham “can for sure” be in the conversation to take up the England captaincy when the day comes for Kane to hang up his boots internationally.
Bilic: ‘Modric is most complete midfielder of modern era’
Speaking of Luka Modric, Croatia boss Slaven Bilic reckons his veteran, Ballon d’Or-winning captain is the “most complete midfielder of the modern era”.
It was suggested that Modric, who is now 41, would call time on his international career after this summer’s World Cup, where Croatia were beaten 4-2 by England in the group stage before suffering a harsh round-of-32 exit at the hands of Portugal.
However, Modric is still going and looks set to feature against Thomas Tuchel’s side having already scored in this Nations League campaign (see previous post).
“[Modric] is unique, that is why he has lasted so long, he is more than a player and captain for us,” said former West Ham, West Brom and Watford manager Bilic, now in his second stint as his country’s manager.
“He is important on the pitch, he makes a difference for AC Milan, they are not the same team without him, he makes a difference for us.
“He can’t play every game for 90 minutes, so we take care of that. He is a one-off. The old saying that age is just a number really is true. He is still quick when you see him in training, it is not just passion and hard work. He is still quick.
Bilic continued: “Does he get enough credit? He does and he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
“He does because he won the Ballon D’Or. Maybe before 2018 he didn’t get recognition that we had for him. But after that World Cup, he became a star.
“Is he the best ever? That’s not something that is easy to discuss. He is the most complete midfielder of the modern era.
“He is the guy crossing, trying to break the lines and then in the next action he is stopping the counter attack. I don’t know many players who can do it on that high level.”
The Nations League so far
Here’s how the new Nations League has started off for both of these countries…
England bounce back from Spain loss to beat 10-men Czechs
England’s campaign began with a battling 3-2 home loss against Spain this time last week.
Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon scored to take a 2-1 lead at the break after Lamine Yamal broke the deadlock early following an error by Marc Guehi.
But the England skipper then missed a penalty early in the second period which shifted momentum back in favour of the world champions, who soon capitalised on another English error to equalise before netting a deserved winner to keep their ridiculous unbeaten streak alive.
Kane and Gordon were both on target again as Thomas Tuchel’s men responded with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic, who started well but played more than an hour with 10 men following a VAR intervention, on Tuesday evening as Trent Alexander-Arnold made his first international start under the current regime.
Croatia succumb to Spanish dominance after opening win
Croatia, meanwhile, handed returning gaffer Slaven Bilić a first win at the helm by beating the Czechs themselves a week ago, with Luka Modrić – yep, he’s still going! – and Marco Pašalić getting on the scoresheet.
However, they too then fell afoul of Spain’s brilliance in a 4-1 thumping earlier this week, with Dion Beljo’s first-half goal ultimately proving to be a mere consolation effort despite pulling his side level at the time.
After the opening two rounds in Group A3, it means the Spanish are comfortably top with England second due to a superior goal difference (+1 vs -w) over Croatia while Czechia languish in last place ahead of their meeting with Spain later this evening.
Behind closed doors – so who will be there?
Today’s game is taking place in front of a reduced crowd due to a punishment handed down to Croatia stemming from fan behaviour in a Nations League match against France last March.
The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) paid a fine of around £80,000 and were told by Uefa last May that they must play home and away fixtures without supporters.
Since then, and until their game against Czechia last week when the one-match away fans ban was served, Croatia’s only home outings have been in Fifa-sanctioned matches or international friendlies.
Today’s clash with England is the nation’s first competitive Uefa home match since the punishment was imposed, meaning it is technically being played behind closed doors – hence the selection of a smaller stadium.
Will anyone be there?
The ground won’t be fully empty, though. In addition to the media, including our very own Mark Douglas, there will be some fans in the Stadion Riejka.
That’s because between 3,000 and 6,000 Croatian schoolchildren have been permitted to attend the match, with adult supervision in the ratio of 15 children per adult, while England have been permitted to grant 100 complimentary tickets to their own travelling fans.
The when and the where
We’re scheduled to get underway at 5pm BST tonight, Saturday 3 October.
Stadion HNK Rijeka is the designated battleground for this bout of Nations League action, meanwhile.
Located slightly northwest of its namesake coastal city, the 8,279-seater stadium is the current home ground of Croatian top-flight club HNK Rijeka.
But why has it been chosen to host today’s match, and why might the crowd might be on the younger end? Well…
Welcome, one and all
Hello and welcome to The i Paper‘s live coverage of Croatia vs England in the Nations League.
Thomas Tuchel’s troops bounced back from their energetic loss to Spain at Wembley a week ago to beat 10-men Czechia in Prague on Tuesday.
Tonight’s outing in Rijeka therefore offers England the chance to build on the week’s momentum against a familiar foe, before the Czechs make the return trip in a few days’ time to draw this rather lengthy international break to a close.
Kick-off is just a few short hours away, so stick with us as we bring you all of the latest team news and build-up followed by play-by-play updates and analysis from the ground once the action begins.
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