England Rout Croatia 7-0 in Nations League as Tuchel Rebuilds After World Cup
The short version
- England beat Croatia 7-0 away in Rijeka, the best performance of Thomas Tuchel's tenure.
- Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored twice; Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also scored.
- England became the first team to score five or more goals in an away match against Croatia.
- England finished third at the 2026 World Cup after a late semifinal loss to Argentina.
- Earlier in the window, Tuchel's side lost 3-2 to Spain and beat Czechia 2-0.
Thomas Tuchel says England's 7-0 Nations League win in Croatia shows his players turning the pain of their third-place World Cup finish into forward momentum.
England overwhelmed Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka on Saturday, a Nations League result that stands as the standout performance of Thomas Tuchel's time in charge. The scale of the win was underscored by the standing of the opposition, with Croatia ranked inside the world's top 15.
Five players shared the goals. Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka each struck twice, while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers added the rest. In the process, England became the first team ever to score five or more goals against Croatia in an away fixture.
The match came as England rebuild from the 2026 World Cup, where a third-place finish followed a dramatic late defeat by Argentina in the semifinals. Tuchel has made little attempt to shield his squad from that memory. Instead, he wants the pain of it to drive the team toward future success.
Speaking afterwards, the manager put that idea in blunt terms. "This is the only way to move forward, even if you still feel pain," Tuchel said, in comments reported by Sky Sports. "You have to play with the pain if you still feel the disappointment, you have to play with it, that is the nature of sport."
The camp itself did not start easily. "It was not an easy camp in the beginning after this long tournament for multiple reasons," Tuchel said. He traced the turnaround to the opening days, citing "straight away, the first training session on Tuesday, the build-up to the Spain game" as the point where the tone was set.
From there, Tuchel saw a steady climb through the window. In his view, England delivered an excellent performance against Spain despite losing 3-2, answered with "the reaction to the result in Czechia" — a 2-0 win — and then carried that form into the rout of Croatia.
For Tuchel, the process behind the scoreline carried particular weight. "The focus in the meetings, the translation of the meetings onto the pitch and to bring it within these circumstances in Croatia, to win with this dominant performance, that is the way to move on," he said.
The manager also accepted that the World Cup will leave a lasting mark. "I've said many times, we will always have a scar, we will always feel pain and disappointment," he said. "That is the way it is but this is the way to move forward." Tuchel explained that the staff adjusted certain things after the tournament, that England played in the same manner in all three matches of the window, and that the team is getting better at it and buying into the approach — "this is the most important."
England's next fixture comes quickly: Czechia visit Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, October 6 at 2:45 PM EDT. Spain travel to Croatia for a game at Stadion Poljud kicking off at the same time.
