In Rijeka, where the stadium was filled mostly with schoolchildren, the England national team delivered a veritable lesson. The score of 7:0 in the Nations League match against Croatia is not merely a lopsided victory, but a signal of how Thomas Tuchel's team is learning to live with the pain of a World Cup semi-final defeat.
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored braces, Jude Bellingham added a goal and three assists, and Anthony Gordon, Morgan Rogers and the rest completed the rout. Croatia, weakened by age and UEFA disciplinary sanctions, had nothing to offer in response. This is the heaviest defeat in the history of the Croatian national team, but for the English something else matters more: for the first time in a long while, everything came together into a single picture.
Tuchel called the performance a "complete package" — from the first minute to the last, the team dominated both with and without the ball. After the defeat to Spain and the win over Czechia, this match became a confirmation: the pain of the semi-final against Argentina has not disappeared, but now it works as a catalyst. "We will always carry that scar," the coach said, "but that is precisely how we move forward."
The progress in attack is especially noticeable. The quartet of forwards operated as a single mechanism: Kane opened up space, Saka and Gordon used the flanks, and Bellingham linked everything in the center. The analogy is simple — like a well-tuned orchestra, where each instrument hears the others and no one pulls the blanket over to themselves. Previously, such matches often ended in nervous play and missed chances.
The debut of Alex Scott and Elliot Anderson's assured play in midfield added depth. England did not merely score, but controlled the tempo and gave the opponent no respite. This is no longer a random surge, but systematic work that Tuchel has been building since his arrival.
Of course, Croatia is not Spain and not Argentina. The next test will show how sustainable this progress is. But even now it is clear: England has stopped being afraid of its own pain and has begun turning it into an advantage. In sport, that is precisely how teams are born that are capable of more than just pretty numbers on the scoreboard.
