Croatia face England in a massive League A3 showdown in the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League.
Locked on three points apiece, victory would see Croatia stay second or they will be leapfrogged by England into second.
Team News
Croatia have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 4-1 away loss to Spain, with Josip Stanisic set to return after illness forced him to sit out that match.
England will be without Nico O’Reilly after he withdrew from the squad due to an injury, which kept him out of their 2-0 victory away to Czech Republic on Tuesday evening.
When is Kick-Off?
Croatia host England at Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, on Saturday 3 October at 6pm CEST (5pm BST), live on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Croatia are yet to beat England in the Nations League (D1, L1), with the pair having met in the inaugural 2018-19 edition of the tournament.
- England drew 0-0 in their only previous Nations League visit to Croatia in October 2018.
- Croatia have lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for both of their opening two matches in this group.
- England’s Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane have converted two of their three shots on target into goals in their first two group matches.
Prediction
Coming into this match off the back of a hard defeat away to Spain, Croatia simply need to regroup because this won’t be an easy test at home without their own fans present – except for some local children groups, and they did concede four against England in their World Cup opener in June so there’s a point to prove.
England meanwhile produced a clinical display against Czech Republic who didn’t exactly roll over even when reduced to ten men, but this will be a tougher test against a team that they have come to know well over the past decade so patience will be key.
The lack of a crowd atmosphere also won’t help both teams so I expect this to be bit of a slow-burner but England should have the firepower to edge this test.
Prediction: Croatia 1-2 England
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