play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upEXPLAINERSport|FootballCroatia vs England: UEFA Nations League – Kane, Modric, teams, formHeavyweights England play away to Croatia, with captain Harry Kane going up against veteran Luka Modric.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoCroatia legend Luka Modric, left, and England captain Harry Kane, right, will clash in Saturday's Nations League tie [David Ramos and Carl Recine/Getty Images]By Manasi PathakPublished On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026Who: Croatia vs England What: UEFA Nations League 2026-27, Group A3 match Where: Rujevica Stadium, Rijeka, Croatia When: Saturday, October 3, at 6pm local time (16:00 GMT) How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up and live updates from 13:00 GMT
Action in the Nations League continues this weekend with a matchday three tie between Croatia and England.
With a win and a defeat each, Croatia and England have both made a mixed start to this year’s competition.
Drawn in a group alongside the reigning world champions Spain and minnows Czechia, Croatia and England find themselves in an interesting yet challenging pool.
Captain Harry Kane has led from the front for the Three Lions, excelling in front of goal alongside winger Anthony Gordon, while Luka Modric continues to defy age, still playing a vital role in Croatia’s midfield even at 41.
Al Jazeera breaks down everything ahead of Croatia vs England:
The UEFA Nations League was founded in 2018 to reduce the number of meaningless friendlies and give nations competitive matches against top-ranked teams.
In this competition, countries from across Europe participate in a league structure which features promotion and relegation.
Both Croatia and England have won once and lost once.
Croatia started their Nations League campaign with a 2-1 win over Czechia in Prague before losing 4-1 to world champions Spain in Seville.
England, on the other hand, fell 3-2 to Spain in their campaign opener in London before beating a 10-man Czechia side 2-0 in Prague.
England beat Croatia 4-2 in a World Cup group game on June 17 in Arlington, Texas. Captain Harry Kane scored a brace, while Marcus Rashford and Jude Bellingham scored a goal apiece.
Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic (Croatia): The evergreen Modric, very much the heartbeat of the Croatian midfield even at 41 years old, scored the opening goal in their away win in Czechia. Time and again, the captain has pulled the strings in the middle of the park, proving age is just a number. His fellow experienced teammate, Perisic, is also chipping in style, bagging back-to-back assists.
Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon (England): The script for England has looked the same in the last two games: Gordon opens the scoring, and Kane follows suit. While that wasn’t enough to beat the mighty Spain, it did the job against Czechia. Can this dynamic duo strike again? The numbers swing in their favour – Gordon has five assists already for Barcelona this season, while Kane has scored six times for Bayern Munich.
Centre-back Martin Erlic is out injured until mid-October, and right-back Josip Juranovic is sidelined with illness.
Probable Croatia XI: Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanisic, Luka Vuskovic, Josko Gvardiol, Ivan Perisic; Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic; Luka Sucic, Petar Sucic, Franjo Ivanovic; Dion Beljo
England are without left-back Nico O’Reilly, who withdrew from the squad with injury.
Probable England XI: James Trafford; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall; Elliot Anderson, Miles Lewis-Skelly; Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane
You can find your regional broadcaster on UEFA’s official broadcaster listing.
