England supporters will be barred from attending their Nations League away fixture against Croatia in October, as the host nation serves a two-game punishment stemming from crowd trouble last year.
Croatia was hit with a substantial fine and ordered to play their subsequent home game behind closed doors, alongside their next away match without travelling fans. These sanctions followed incidents during their Nations League quarter-final against France last May.
Following Thursday night’s Nations League draw in Brussels, which confirmed England’s Group A3 fixtures against Croatia, Czech Republic and Spain, the Croatian Football Federation verified that the ban on supporters would apply to the England match on 3 October.
The federation stated: "It should be noted that due to the inappropriate behavior of some Croatian fans in the quarter-final matches of last year’s edition of the Nations League against France, Croatia will play its first away game, i.e. the one against the Czech Republic on September 26, without the presence of Croatian fans, and play its first home game without an audience, i.e. the one against England on October 3."
This marks the second occasion England fans have faced such restrictions for an away trip to Croatia. In October 2018, supporters were prohibited from travelling to a Nations League match in Rijeka due to similar sanctions against the hosts, though hundreds still made the journey, attempting to watch from a hill overlooking the stadium.
