Key stats
- Jude Bellingham's six assists for England in 2026 is the most by a player for the national team in a calendar year since Raheem Sterling in 2019 (also six)
- Harry Kane is the top scorer in this season's Nations League with seven goals
- England have played Croatia four times in the Nations League and have never lost, boasting a 9-1 aggregate over the last two fixtures in October and November
Analysis
Match report
Kane becoming England’s all-time record appearance maker was the big story at Wembley and somewhat overshadowed the early stages of a game which Thomas Tuchel’s men struggled to assert their authority in.
It took the Three Lions 15 minutes to get close enough to Croatia’s goal to muster a shot in anger, which Elliot Anderson rifled over the bar, and it was ultimately a stroke of good fortune which yielded the opener.
Kane dropped into his customary quarterback role and sprayed a perfect pass to Jude Bellingham, whose ball across the six-yard box went through two pairs of Croatian legs before Morgan Rogers scuffed it over the line.
Aside from that one moment of quality, though, it was a largely tame first half from England, whose only shot on target was that for the goal, and with news that Spain were also leading at half-time in Group A3’s other game, there weren’t too many positives at half-time for Tuchel’s men.
Whatever he said at the break clearly incentivised his side, who created a gilt-edged opportunity for Kane to mark his landmark evening when Declan Rice pulled the ball back for him six yards from goal, but his Bayern Munich teammate Josip Stanisic produced a goal-saving block to deny him.
That proved to be a key block too, as Croatia drew level shortly after. England failed to fully clear a Croatia corner, and after Jarell Quansah’s backwards header towards Jordan Pickford was short, Petar Sucic nipped in to steer home a leveller.
The Bayer Leverkusen defender managed to atone for his error moments later at the other end when he was hauled down by Ivan Smolcic from a corner, affording Kane the opportunity to score on his 126th cap, a chance he was never going to pass up as he stroked a penalty down the middle to fire England back in front.
England weren’t convincing from there on though, and almost surrendered the lead for a second time when Nikola Vlasic opened up a yard on the edge of the area and rolled a left-footed effort inches wide of the target.
Tuchel’s men thought they were going to be able to rest easy in the final five minutes when James Garner swept home what would have been his first England goal, but Bellingham had strayed offside in the build-up.
Three points were all that mattered for England though, as they saw out a huge victory which sets them up nicely for Sunday’s showdown with leaders Spain, where only a win will be enough to secure top spot.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Morgan Rogers (England)
