MX23RW : Monday, December 16 10:26:52| >> :600:329303:329303:
[monks data]
Croatia national football team
Nations League | League Phase
Oct 12, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
 
England national football team

0-0

FT

Umbrellas, own goals and teenage kicks – past England and Croatia clashes

England face Croatia in the Nations League on Friday.

England play Croatia in Rijeka on Friday night in their second Nations League game – less than 100 days after suffering World Cup semi-final heartbreak against their hosts.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at five memorable meetings between the two sides.

Croatia 2 England 4, Euro 2004, June 21, 2004

Wayne Rooney was in scintillating form against Croatian at Euro 2004
Wayne Rooney was in scintillating form against Croatia at Euro 2004 (Nick Potts/PA)

Two goals from Wayne Rooney proved more than enough to secure Sven-Goran Eriksson's England safe passage into the quarter-finals. Croatia took an early lead in Lisbon through Niko Kovac but Paul Scholes levelled with a header for the Three Lions. Rooney then struck either side of half-time, with Frank Lampard adding the fourth after Igor Tudor had reduced the arrears.

Croatia 2 England 0, Euro 2008 qualifier, October 11, 2006

Paul Robinson's mistake helped Croatia to victory
Paul Robinson's mishap helped Croatia to victory (Owen Humphreys/PA)

A bizarre Gary Neville own goal helped heap pressure on England boss Steve McClaren as his side struggled to secure qualification for the European Championships. Eduardo headed Croatia in front in Zagreb before Neville's back-pass hit a divot and bounced over the foot of goalkeeper Paul Robinson as he looked to clear, resulting in a calamitous moment for the away side. Having drawn 0-0 with Macedonia at Old Trafford four days earlier, the pressure was building on McClaren to put things right.

England 2 Croatia 3, Euro 2008 qualifier, November 21, 2007

Steve McClaren's England reign came to a soggy end against Croatia
Steve McClaren's England reign came to a soggy end against Croatia (Sean Dempsey/PA)

Defeat in Russia in their penultimate qualifier meant England needed something against Slaven Bilic's Croatia at Wembley. But instead it was another evening to forget for McClaren, who watched on forlornly from under an umbrella as his England side were beaten in the rain. A terrible error from goalkeeper Scott Carson allowed Niko Kranjcar to put Croatia in front before Ivica Olic doubled their advantage inside 15 minutes. England rallied as Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch scored, only for Mladen Petric to settle the match in favour of the visitors. McClaren was asked to clear his desk soon after.

Croatia 1 England 4, World Cup 2010 qualifier, September 10, 2008

Theo Walcott was England's hat-trick hero
Theo Walcott was England's hat-trick hero (Owen Humphreys/PA)

Fast-forward 10 months and England, under new manager Fabio Capello, were flying in their World Cup qualification group. Enter 19-year-old Theo Walcott, who stunned Zagreb with a hat-trick at the Maksimir Stadium. The winger scored the opening two goals either side of Robert Kovac's red card for the hosts and took home the match ball after adding his third following Wayne Rooney's well-taken effort. England would seal qualification for the World Cup in South Africa with a 5-1 thrashing of Croatia a year later.

Croatia 2 England 1 (after extra-time), World Cup semi-final, July 11, 2018

Mario Mandzukic scored the extra-time winner
Mario Mandzukic scored the extra-time winner (Aaron Chown/PA)

The last meeting between the two nations will still be etched on the memory of both sets of supporters. With a place in the World Cup final at stake, Kieran Trippier's stunning early free-kick gave Gareth Southgate's men the advantage in Moscow. Harry Kane then hit a post before Croatia rallied. Ivan Perisic equalised to take the game into extra-time, where Mario Mandzukic capitalised on some static defending to score the winner and break English hearts.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'a6965218-e534-433f-80b4-d972ab001c81');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Umbrellas, own goals and teenage kicks \u2013 past England and Croatia clashes'});

ID:338373: cacheID:338373:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:11922:
Written by
P A
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
England's Jordan Henderson gestures in the match against Sweden on July 7, 2018
Read Next:
How England could line up against Croatia
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal642014
Q Croatia Croatia62228
3 Scotland flag Scotland62137
4 Poland Poland61144

League A2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France641113
Q Italy Italy641113
3 Belgium Belgium61144
4 Israel Israel61144

League A3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany642014
Q Netherlands Netherlands62319
3 Hungary Hungary61326
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina60242

League A4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain651016
Q Denmark Denmark62228
3 Serbia Serbia61326
4 Switzerland Switzerland60242

League B1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic632111
2 Ukraine Ukraine62228
3 Georgia Georgia62137
4 Albania national flag Albania62137

League B2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England650115
2 Greece Greece650115
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland62046
4 Finland Finland60060

League B3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Norway Norway641113
2 Austria Austria632111
3 Slovenia Slovenia62228
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan60151

League B4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Wales flag Wales633012
2 Turkey Turkey632111
3 Iceland Iceland62137
4 Montenegro Montenegro61053

League C1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Sweden Sweden651016
2 Slovakia Slovakia641113
3 Estonia Estonia61144
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan60151

League C2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania550015
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo540112
3 Cyprus Cyprus62046
4 Lithuania Lithuania60060

League C3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland632111
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria62319
3 Belarus Belarus61417
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg60333

League C4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Macedonia N. Macedonia651016
2 Armenia Armenia62137
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands61326
4 Latvia Latvia61144

League D1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q San Marino flag San Marino42117
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar41306
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein40222

League D2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Republic of Moldova Moldova43019
2 Malta flag Malta42117
3 Andorra flag Andorra40131


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!