England's third match of their 2026-27 Nations League campaign against Croatia will be played behind closed doors on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Thomas Tuchel's side started the international break with a 3-2 loss on home soil against the current world champions, Spain, on Saturday. Three days later, Anthony Gordon and Harry Kane's second-half goals sealed a 2-0 win against Czechia, putting them in second place in Group A3 with three points.
England will play in front of an almost entirely empty stadium in Rijeka, Croatia, at the same stadium where the Three Lions played behind closed doors eight years ago. On that occasion in 2018, the ruling was due to a swastika having been marked on the pitch for a Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy.
Why will England's game against Croatia be played behind closed doors?
No Croatia fans will be present at the Stadion HNK Rijeka as a result of crowd disturbances during the country's Nations League quarterfinal encounter with France in March 2025.
Seven fans were taken into custody on suspicion of making Nazi salutes during the game, but were released without being prosecuted due to a lack of evidence.
Firecrackers were also set off in a section of the stadium occupied by Croatia fans.
Croatia were further sanctioned when they were denied any away fans for their 2-1 win in the opening game of their Nations League campaign against Czechia on Saturday.
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Will England fans be allowed in the stadium?
Originally, no fans were permitted to be in attendance for the game this Saturday.
However, following discussions between England and UEFA, English fans were granted permission to attend the game, for which there will be 100 complimentary tickets.
In a statement, the official England Supporters Travel Club said: "We're pleased to confirm that, 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 on Saturday 3 October.
"The match will be played behind closed doors following a UEFA sanction against Croatia. However, 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."
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
