Guéhi and Anderson help England to thumping win over Croatia
Marc Guéhi and Elliot Anderson helped England to a ruthless 7-0 win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.
Guéhi played 90 minutes while Anderson was out there for 79 minutes as Thomas Tuchel’s men kept up the pressure on Spain in League A - Group 3.
Anderson became the fastest player to 20 England caps, reaching the feat in 392 days beating previous holder Chris Waddle’s 453 by 61 days.
In the opposition camp, Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić had an afternoon to forget, though, as both played the full game for Slaven Bilic’s side at HNK Rijeka Stadium.
England went in 4-0 up at the break with goals from four different scorers during a dominant display.
Harry Kane opened the scoring after being played in by Jude Bellingham before the Real Madrid midfielder doubled the advantage from Anthony Gordon’s assist.
Gordon then extended the lead as he nodded home Jarrell Quansah’s pinpoint cross from the right channel.
Kovačić could have pulled one back for the hosts as the clock ticked down to half-time but he blasted wide from close-range after pickpocketing City teammate Anderson and that error was punished by Bukayo Saka who struck just before time.
Kane added another just after the interval after being fed by Blues man Anderson, Saka made it six midway through the second half after a mistake by Josip Stanišić before Morgan Rogers raced through to add a seventh at the death.
England are second in their group, with six points from three games while Spain, who beat the Three Lions in their opening clash, are on nine points from their trio of matches with a 3-1 home win over Czech Republic coming courtesy of goals from Lamine Yamal, former City man Rodri and Mikel Merino.
Croatia now host Spain and England welcome the Czech Republic next Tuesday, both games starting at 19:45 (UK).
The group winners and runners-up will advance to the quarter-finals, played home-and-away over two legs in March 2027.
Portugal are the defending champions having beaten Spain 5–3 on penalties in 2025 following a 2–2 draw after extra time to claim their second UEFA Nations League title.