The Croatian national team suffered its heaviest defeat in history. England won 7-0 in the third round of the group stage of the League of Nations at the Rujevic stadium, with a convincing 7-0 scoreline.
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka led the way for England, with both scoring two goals. Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers each added one goal, rounding off a convincing result for the visitors.
Croatian captain Luka Modrić did not hide his disappointment after the match. 'Without a duel, without aggression, without a foul, without unity,' said Modrić, describing his team's performance. 'I have been here for 20 years and I must say that for the first time I feel shame after the match.'
Modrić stated that the defeat itself was not unknown, but the manner in which it occurred left a bitter taste. 'One can lose, they are better, but to lose in this way and squander the reputation... this is unacceptable,' the captain said. 'For the first time in 20 years I feel truly ashamed.'
Despite the heavy defeat, Modrić called for unity within the squad. 'We must not point fingers at each other. We must stand together in this, as we always have,' he said. 'We have lost before by large margins, but the feeling after this match is completely different. I have never felt like this before. I apologise.'
Modrić remained on the pitch until the 57th minute, when he was replaced by Kristijan Jakić. He received a rating of 6.4 on Sofascore for his performance. The Croatian captain is 41 years old and is the record holder for the national team with 205 caps.
The match against England took place just a week after Modrić had been excellent against the Czech Republic, where he scored his 30th goal for the national team.
