RIJEKA — England produced one of their best performances in recent times to thrash Croatia 7-0 in the Nations League in Rijeka, with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon among the scorers in a ruthless away victory.
Kane opened the scoring before Bellingham, Gordon and Bukayo Saka all found the net before half-time to put England 4-0 up at the break. Captain Kane added a fifth early in the second half, Saka scored his second from close range and substitute Morgan Rogers rounded the goalkeeper to add a seventh and complete the dominant win.
BBC Sport England reporter Alex Howell rated Bellingham as the best player on the pitch with a 9, noting his lovely threaded pass for Kane's opener, his goal for England's second and his assist for Saka's fourth. Kane and Gordon also received 9s — Kane for his elite finishing, energy pressing from the front and passing range on his two-goal display, and Gordon for assisting Bellingham and scoring for a fourth consecutive England game while playing with huge confidence.
Jarell Quansah earned an 8 at right-back after being surprisingly chosen over Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the Bayer Leverkusen defender doing exactly what manager Thomas Tuchel wants as a powerful runner and showing underrated ability on the ball with a quality assist for Gordon. Elliot Anderson also scored an 8 after another mature performance and setting up Kane for England's fifth, while Saka took an 8 for his brace despite missing a big second-half chance for a hat-trick. Ezri Konsa (7) delivered a calm, assured display, Marc Guehi (7) took up risky positions as England pressed man for man, Lewis Hall (7) offered pace and underlapped into midfield for the Newcastle left-back, and Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott (7) impressed on his first England start. Jordan Pickford received a 6 after racing out to win the ball at the feet of Ivan Perisic early and surviving Mateo Kovacic's incredible miss.
Among the substitutes, Rogers earned a 7 for his composed finish on the left after replacing Kane on 70 minutes, while Eberechi Eze (6) played as a number 10 after replacing Gordon, James Garner (6) kept it simple with strong challenges after replacing Alex Scott, and Morgan Gibbs-White (6) came on for Anderson on 79 minutes. Subs not used were Steele, Trafford, Alexander-Arnold, Branthwaite, Calvert-Lewin, Chalobah and Ngumoha.