England put seven goals past Croatia in Rijeka, inflicting the heaviest defeat in their history, and Jude Bellingham was the man at the centre of it. The Real Madrid midfielder scored once and set up three more as Thomas Tuchel’s side ran riot in front of a reduced crowd in the Nations League. By full time, the result had left Bellingham praised by Roy Keane as a player capable of reaching the very top of the game.
Tuchel’s front four of Harry Kane, Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon all found the net, a collective statement of intent from a manager building his attack around players in the form of their lives. For Real Madrid supporters, used to watching Bellingham dictate matches in white, this was further proof that his influence now carries just as much weight in an England shirt.
Detailed First Half Narrative
Tuchel’s selection set the tone before kick-off. He picked Kane, Bellingham, Saka and Gordon as his front four, and all four would finish the match among the scorers. Croatia, ranked 14th in the world, never looked equipped to deal with that much quality in behind their defence.
Playing in front of a reduced crowd in Rijeka did nothing to soften the intensity. Bellingham arrived at the game as England’s standout performer from the World Cup, and nothing in Croatia suggested that status needed revisiting. He finished with a goal and three assists, continuing a run that has brought him 13 goal involvements in his last 11 games stretching back to the start of the tournament.
By full time, Croatia had suffered the heaviest defeat in their history. Few inside the stadium would point to one single moment as the turning point. This was a case of England’s front four being simply too good, too often, for a side without the tools to cope.
Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama
The second half only confirmed what had already become clear. According to ITV, Bukayo Saka said Bellingham deserved to be named man of the match, a verdict that summed up the respect he now commands inside his own dressing room.
Thomas Tuchel was just as direct afterwards. According to Sky Sports, the England manager said Bellingham had gone to the next level, while warning that a player can never stand still in football.
That focal role has not happened by accident. Bellingham has become the player Tuchel builds his attack around, in much the same way Real Madrid rely on him at club level. Keane’s point, in essence, was that the balance between Bellingham’s attacking output and his defensive work is what now separates him from most of his peers.
It was Keane’s assessment, though, that carried the most weight for a Real Madrid audience already convinced of Bellingham’s quality. According to the Sky Sports report, Keane said: “I think there’s still a lot more to come from [Bellingham].” He did not stop there, adding: “Bellingham can go on to become one of the greatest players of all time.”
Seeing Bellingham praised by Roy Keane in those terms, after a display that produced a goal and three assists, says plenty about where his stock now sits. Keane went on to explain why, pointing to Bellingham’s work off the ball as much as his numbers: “His attitude for England recently…I have been praising him for being fantastic in possession, but what he is doing out of possession. That lifts all these players.” According to Sky Sports, Keane added that Bellingham has become a huge leader for England, built against sides of every level, including a Croatia team ranked 14th in the world.
For readers in Madrid, none of this arrives as a surprise. We looked at Tuchel challenging Bellingham over his temperament in our piece on Tuchel on Bellingham, and the same manager now has little left to criticise. Keane’s praise echoes a pattern seen plenty of times at club level too, a player whose influence stretches well past goals and assists.
Bellingham’s club future is moving in step with his form for England. Talks over a new deal at the Bernabéu were covered in our report on Bellingham contract talks, and nights like this one in Rijeka will do nothing to slow that process down.
This sort of influence is becoming the norm rather than the exception for Bellingham on international duty. We covered a similarly dominant display in our Bellingham Nations League report earlier in the competition, and Rijeka only added to that pattern. Further detail on England’s win is available in the related Sky Sports coverage of the game.
Player Ratings (home side)
England’s front four did the damage, and the individual contributions make that clear.
Jude Bellingham: 10/10. A goal, three assists and the clearest explanation for why Roy Keane and Thomas Tuchel were both full of praise. Bellingham’s touch ran through this result from start to finish, and Croatia’s heaviest ever defeat has his fingerprints all over it.
Harry Kane: 9/10. Found the net as part of a front four in which every member scored, continuing to lead England’s attack with the same reliability that has defined so much of his international career.
Bukayo Saka: 8/10. Scored himself and still made a point of telling ITV that Bellingham deserved the night’s top individual honour, a sign of how much respect his teammate commands inside the squad.
Anthony Gordon: 8/10. Completed a full house of front-four goals, underlining how dangerous Tuchel’s selection proved against a Croatia side with no real answers on the night.
The rest of Tuchel’s side played their part in a result of this scale, but the headlines, fairly, belonged to the four players who scored. For a Real Madrid supporter watching from afar, numbers like these are becoming familiar, and so is the reaction they provoke.
Player Ratings (opponent)
Individual detail from Croatia’s night in Rijeka is hard to come by, and for good reason. A team ranked 14th in the world was taken apart by an England front four playing at a level they simply could not match.
Croatia collectively: 2/10. A heaviest ever defeat does not happen because of one mistake. Every outfield player struggled to contain Bellingham, Kane, Saka and Gordon, and the scoreline reflected a team overrun from deep inside its own half for long spells of the match. That result will sting for some time, and it leaves serious questions for Croatia to answer, whatever shape the inquest takes.
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