England inflict Croatia's heaviest defeat in history
· Yahoo Sports
In front of just over 6,000 children in Rijeka, with the unusual crowd a consequence of a UEFA punishment imposed on the Croatian federation, England handed Croatia the heaviest defeat in their history on Saturday.
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England ran out 7-0 winners in a ruthless display that set a new record against the Croatians. Their previous heaviest defeat had been a 6-0 loss to Spain.
That result came in the 2018 Nations League, when La Roja produced a dominant home performance featuring a goal and three assists from Marco Asensio. Rodrigo Moreno, Saúl, Isco and Sergio Ramos were also on the scoresheet, alongside an own goal from goalkeeper Kalinic.
Kovacic and Modric both started that match on 11 September, and eight years later they were involved in an even heavier defeat. England had previously beaten Croatia 5-1 in the 2009 World Cup qualifiers, but went a step further in Rijeka.
It was also only the fifth time this century that England have scored at least seven goals in a match, and the first under Thomas Tuchel. Their previous seven-goal-plus wins came against San Marino twice, by 8-0 and 10-0, as well as North Macedonia and Montenegro, both by 7-0.
Anthony Gordon was another standout performer and reached a personal milestone, becoming the sixth player this century to score in four consecutive England matches, following Rooney, Lampard, Ashley Young, Rashford and Kane.