England face Croatia in the Nations League at the Stadion HNK Rijeka on Saturday, with the match to be played mostly behind closed doors. The partial ban on supporters attending is part of a punishment handed down to Croatia regarding sanctions dating back to March 2025 and incidents involving fans around matches against France in the quarter-finals of the Nations League.
UEFA punishment and the ban
Croatia's football association paid a fine of around £80,000 and faced disciplinary proceedings relating to racism and discrimination. 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 supporters away from home.
Since then, Croatia have hosted Montenegro, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Belgium and Slovenia, but those were all FIFA-sanctioned home matches, whether World Cup qualifiers or international friendlies. As such, England are the first team to visit Croatia in a UEFA competition since the France match.
Who can attend?
Slaven Bilic has returned for a second spell as Croatia national team manager, winning his first game back against Czech Republic before a 4-1 loss at the hands of world champions Spain. For Bilic's homecoming, he will not have the full backing of the Croatia supporters.
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 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 carers would be in attendance. The HNS (The Croatian Football Federation) now expects between 5,500 and 6,000 children to attend, having been invited by the HNS from football academies across Croatia, and from schools in the Rijeka area.
Furthermore, there will be a handful of England supporters in attendance at the Stadion HNK Rijeka, which holds a capacity of 8,279. A statement reads: “Following discussions with UEFA, a small delegation of England Supporters Travel Club members will be permitted to attend England’s UEFA Nations League fixture against Croatia. We have been granted permission to allocate 100 complimentary tickets to active 2026-2028 England Supporters Travel Club members, giving a small number of our supporters the opportunity to attend the fixture.”
Tuchel's reaction and previous behind-closed-doors match
Speaking on Friday in the 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. 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 difference. 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.”
England's last visit to Rijeka to face Croatia in October 2018, also in a Nations League clash, was played behind closed doors. This was a result of a swastika being marked on the pitch ahead of Croatia's Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy. That marked England's first senior international to be played behind closed doors.
