England travel to the Stadion HNK Rijeka on Saturday evening to face Croatia in a Nations League rematch of the six-goal thriller from nearly four months ago at the World Cup. Thomas Tuchel's side are looking to follow up a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic which kick-started their 2026/27 Nations League campaign.
The Three Lions boss will be able to call upon Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, two scorers in Dallas when England beat Croatia 4-2 back in June, as well as the likes of Alex Scott and the in-form Anthony Gordon. However, their second successive away match in the competition is to be, mostly, played behind closed doors.
Why is Croatia vs England being played behind closed doors?
The partial ban on supporters attending Saturday's match is part of a punishment handed down to Croatia following sanctions that date back to March 2025, and incidents involving fans around matches against France in the quarter-finals of the Nations League. The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) paid a fine of around £80,000 and faced disciplinary proceedings relating to fans' racist and discriminatory behaviour.
On May 19, 2025, UEFA ruled that Croatia would play their next home fixture without supporters as well as serving a one-match ban on their fans travelling away. While Croatia have since hosted Montenegro, Gibraltar, the Faroe Islands, Belgium and Slovenia, those were all FIFA-sanctioned matches - either World Cup qualifiers or international friendlies. As such, England are the first team to visit Croatia in a UEFA competition since the France match.
Why can fans still attend Croatia vs England?
Slaven Bilic has returned for a second spell as Croatia manager, winning his first game back 2-1 against the Czech Republic last week before a 4-1 loss at the hands of world champions Spain. For Bilic's homecoming, he won't have the backing of the Croatia supporters. Or will he?
According to a report in The Times, the stadium could be up to 75 per cent full due to Article 73 of UEFA's disciplinary regulations which state that there are a series of exceptions related to those allowed to attend behind-closed-doors fixtures. The regulations state there is an exception for “children up to the age of 14 (duly accompanied) from schools and/or football academies invited to the match free of charge”.
As per the Athletic, UEFA had initially anticipated around 3,000 children plus guardians would be in attendance. The HNS now expects between 5,500 and 6,000 children to attend, having been invited from football academies across Croatia, and from local schools in the Rijeka area. Furthermore, there will also be a small delegation of England supporters in attendance at the Stadion HNK Rijeka, which has a capacity of 8,279.
How did England fans get tickets?
The Football Association (FA) argued that England fans should not be punished by missing Saturday's game, sparking a partial climbdown with the England Supporters Travel Club handed 100 complimentary tickets to give to active 2026-2028 England Supporters Travel Club members. Fans reportedly had until midday on Friday to register their interest, with preference said to have been given to those with the most “caps” for attending previous matches.
Speaking on Friday in his pre-match press conference, Tuchel - who does not have fond memories in Croatia as his last match as Chelsea boss was a Champions League defeat in Zagreb - said it's “never nice” to play behind closed doors. “First of all, I am happy for the children who will be at the match tomorrow that they have the chance to come and watch the game and players that close,” he said. “I am glad that our 100 or 200 fans have the chance to be here. It means a lot to us. The most loyal fans have the chance to watch the game.”
“To be behind closed doors, it's never nice. It's a strange atmosphere. Everyone would love the atmosphere in the stadium - a proper football crowd which would be very, very different. This is a part we have to take into consideration. We cannot switch off and be in holiday mood. It might feel a bit like pre-season but it's not. It's a crucial match in the Nations League.”
Have England played Croatia behind closed doors before?
Yes. England's last visit to Rijeka to face Croatia in October 2018 - also in a Nations League clash - was played behind closed doors. That was a result of a swastika being marked on the pitch ahead of Croatia's Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy. It was England's first senior international fixture to be put behind closed doors, with a goalless draw played out in an empty stadium.
