England needed an answer and found it in the most resounding way possible. The selection of Thomas Tuchel thrashed Croatia 0–7 this Saturday in Rijeka, with Jude Bellingham becoming the great protagonist of a night in which the English attack overwhelmed the Balkan team from the first minutes. The Real Madrid player finished the match with one goal and three assists, directly participating in four of his team's seven goals. Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored twice each, while Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers completed a victory that represents the heaviest defeat in the history of the Croatian national team.
Bellingham was at the center of practically everything England did in attack. Only eight minutes had passed when he took advantage of a loss from Joško Gvardiol to find Harry Kane, who attacked the space between the center-backs and opened the scoring. Thirteen minutes later, it was the midfielder himself who appeared inside the area to collect a loose ball and score 0–2 in the 21st minute. Before halftime, he would still have time to intervene again: after Gordon's 0–3, he set up Bukayo Saka so that England went to the locker room with a four-goal lead.
Bellingham destroys Croatia before halftime
The first half summarized the difference between both teams. England pressed high, accelerated as soon as they recovered the ball, and constantly found spaces behind the Croatian midfield. Bellingham acted as a link between the midfielders and the attacking trio, appearing both inside and near the area, and Croatia never managed to control his movements.
The 0–1 from Kane came after a recovery and a vertical pass from the Madrid player. In the 0–2, Bellingham was the one who directly attacked the area to take advantage of the ball that Anthony Gordon had returned after a cross from Saka. Gordon scored the third in the 39th minute after a pass from Jarell Quansah and, just before halftime, Bellingham found Saka completely free again for 0–4.
Croatia had one of their few clear opportunities just before the fourth goal, but Mateo Kovacic could not take advantage of it. The English response was immediate and turned the first half into a nightmare for the home team.
Kane and Saka complete their doubles
The passage through the locker rooms did not change the scenario too much. England continued finding spaces and Kane made it 0–5 in the 53rd minute, finishing off a low cross from Elliot Anderson. The forward thus reached 89 goals with his national team in 124 matches and maintained his extraordinary international production.
Saka joined shortly after for the double. A mistake by Josip Stanisic in the build-up left the ball in a favorable position for the Arsenal attacker, who scored 0–6 in the 68th minute. With the match completely decided, England reduced the intensity, but there was still one last appearance from Bellingham.
In the 87th minute, the midfielder received with space and filtered the ball to Morgan Rogers, who had come on from the bench and closed the scoring with 0–7. It was Bellingham's third assist and his fourth direct participation in a goal during a night that confirmed his enormous influence on the English attack.
A complete match: one goal and three assists
The numbers summarize the magnitude of his match. Bellingham played the full 90 minutes, scored one goal, and provided three assists, directly intervening in more than half of England's goals. He provided the pass for the first goal to Kane, assisted Saka for the fourth, and set up Rogers to finish off the rout.
The performance also comes at an important moment for England. Tuchel's team had left doubts at the start of the competition and needed to regain feelings after the defeat against Spain and a much tighter win against the Czech Republic. In Rijeka, they offered a completely different version, with speed in transitions, coordinated pressure, and enormous effectiveness in front of the Croatian goal.
Kane later summarized the match as an "incredible performance from start to finish" and highlighted England's ability to dominate both with and without the ball. The captain considered it especially important that the team maintained the level throughout the match and did not just limit themselves to protecting the lead built in the first half.
The worst defeat in the history of Croatia
For Croatia, the result leaves one of the hardest nights since it competes as an independent team. The 0–7 is their widest defeat, with a team unable to stop the English pace and that went into halftime four goals down. Luka Modric, at 41 years old, once again started as one of the references in midfield, but the physical dominance and speed of England ended up prevailing.
The thrashing is even more significant due to the contrast with Croatia's recent trajectory, which has been usual in recent years in the final rounds of major tournaments. This time there was no reaction against an England that kept increasing the lead until reaching a historic result.
England remains behind Spain
The 0–7 allows England to add six points after three matchdays of League A, Group 3 of the Nations League. However, Tuchel's team remains second because Spain maintains a full record of victories. Luis de la Fuente's team won this Saturday 3–1 against the Czech Republic and reaches nine points, three more than the English. Croatia is left with three and the Czechs still have not scored.
This keeps the fight for first place open, but England leaves Rijeka with something more than three points. The thrashing represents their most convincing performance at the start of the Nations League and leaves a particularly powerful image of Bellingham, Kane, Saka, and Gordon functioning at the same time.
And above all appeared the Real Madrid player. One goal, three assists, and direct participation in four goals to lead a 0–7 that is already part of the history of both teams. After a night like this, England looks up again in the group and Bellingham finds himself at the center of their attack once more.