lead-art-block.fullscreen-enterExpandEngland take on Croatia in the Nations League .
England take on Croatia in the Nations League .
Jude Bellingham, Ezri Konsa, Jordan Pickford, Alex Scott and Jarell Quansah came into England’s starting XI for the Nations League match in Croatia.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of the players to make way, returning to the bench after making his first start in over a year against Czechia on Tuesday.
Quansah replaced him at right-back, with Konsa returning to partner Marc Guehi in central defence in place of Trevoh Chalobah after an injury ruled him out in Prague.
Bellingham came back in at number 10 after starting on the bench in Prague to replace Morgan Rogers, who dropped to the bench.
Your #ThreeLions for Saturday night 🔴🏴 pic.twitter.com/A2M4lMfBNj
— England (@England) October 3, 2026
Pickford returned in goal after having to watch James Trafford start the opening two games of the Nations League campaign.
Bournemouth midfielder Scott was handed his first start ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Luka Modric captained Croatia, 20 years after he first played against England, with Manchester City pair Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol and Brighton’s Luka Vuskovic also in Slaven Bilic’s side.
The game at the Stadion HNK Rijeka is officially being played behind closed doors as a sanction for the Croatian Football Association following racist behaviour from fans in a game against France in 2025.
However, there were due to be 6,200 local schoolchildren in attendance with 400 supervising adults as well as 100 England fans.