England put seven past Croatia in Rijeka, Kane on 89 goals

England beat Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka on Saturday, and the scoreline is Croatia's heaviest defeat.

Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored two each. Jude Bellingham scored one and set up three more. Anthony Gordon and substitute Morgan Rogers also scored. Thomas Tuchel's side did it in their third League A, Group A3 match, at Stadion HNK Rijeka, also called Rujevica.

The goals came in a straight line. Kane opened in the eighth minute, finishing after Bellingham's pass, high into the roof of the net. Bellingham made it 2-0 in the 21st minute from Gordon's assist. Gordon headed in Jarell Quansah's cross in the 39th. Mateo Kovacic missed an open goal for Croatia in the 41st, the clearest chance of the half for the home side. Bellingham then set up Saka for the fourth, in first-half stoppage time. After the break Kane took Elliot Anderson's cross for his second, in the 53rd minute. Josip Stanisic's error handed Saka the sixth in the 68th. Rogers ran through for the seventh in the 87th.

Kane's two goals were his 88th and 89th for England, on his 124th cap. Peter Shilton's national record is 125 caps. Kane draws level if he plays against the Czech Republic on Tuesday. He can pass Shilton if he plays at Wembley against Croatia on 12 November. The Rijeka brace did not break a scoring record. It put the appearance record one game away, and it did so in a match where the captain also led the press.

England are level with Spain on six points in the group. Spain have a game in hand and were due to play the Czech Republic in Oviedo later on Saturday. A 7-0 away win does not settle the group. It does change the goal difference by a margin that will matter if the table finishes level. Croatia, who have spent a decade as the side that makes England suffer in tournaments, conceded seven at home and did not score.

The missed chance from Kovacic is the detail that keeps the result from reading as a pure procession. At 3-0, before half-time, Croatia had a finish they should have taken. They did not. England scored again before the interval and did not let the game back. Tuchel will take the clean sheet and the spread of scorers: a striker, a winger, a midfielder, a full-back's cross, a substitute. Saka's second came from a defensive error. Rogers's came from a broken line late on. The rest were made.

For Croatia the number is the problem they take into the return. Seven goals at Rujevica is not a one-off bad half. It is four goals before the break and three after, against a side they have beaten in World Cup semi-finals and extra time. The Nations League table does not carry that history. It carries six points for England, a game in hand for Spain, and a November date at Wembley that is now also Kane's likely record night.

The immediate next match is Tuesday in the Czech Republic. If Kane starts, he equals Shilton. If he scores, the 90th goal arrives on the same night as the 125th cap. Rijeka already gave him 88 and 89, and gave Tuchel a result no England coach has had in this fixture.