Rijeka, Oct 4 (IANS) Croatia’s most capped player Luka Modric has expressed disappointment over his team’s performance against FIFA World Cup 2026 bronze medallists England after the home side went down by 7-0 in their third match of the UEFA Nations League 2026.
Modric, who was making his 205th appearance for his country, was left helpless against the Harry Kane-led side as Croatia’s defence was facing difficulty containing the England’s attackers.
“You can’t play football like that… we looked like we had four or five players less., “It is difficult to find an explanation for such a performance without duels, fouls, aggressiveness, and togetherness. "I've been here for 20 years, but for the first time I feel ashamed after a game,” Modric said, as quoted by The BBC.
“You can lose or play against an opponent who is better – and they are right now. But in any case, losing like this and squandering the reputation we’ve built over the years is unacceptable," he added.
England produced a ruthless attacking display in Rijeka to register their second victory of the Nations League campaign and inflict Croatia’s heaviest defeat.
Harry Kane opened the scoring in the eighth minute after Jude Bellingham released him through on goal. Bellingham then turned scorer in the 21st minute, finishing from close range after Anthony Gordon kept Bukayo Saka’s cross alive.
Gordon extended England’s advantage six minutes before half-time with a header at the back post, before Saka added a fourth on the stroke of the interval following a swift counter-attack.
Kane completed his brace after the break when he converted Elliot Anderson’s cross, while Saka scored his second of the night to make it 6-0.
Substitute Morgan Rogers completed the rout three minutes from time after latching onto a long ball from Bellingham and finishing past Dominik Livakovic.
The result marked England’s second win over Croatia in 2026, following their victory in Dallas at the FIFA World Cup earlier this year.
Croatia had begun Bilic’s second spell in charge with a 2-1 Nations League victory away to the Czech Republic, a result that initially put them above England in Group A3.
However, they then suffered a 4-1 defeat away to world champions Spain before Saturday’s heavy loss left them third in the group and facing a battle to retain their place in the top tier of the Nations League.
--IANS
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