Why Croatia vs England will be played behind closed doors – and why there will be fans there anyway
The third match of England’s UEFA Nations League campaign will be played behind closed doors against Croatia on Saturday, October 3.
England kicked off their return to the top-tier League A against world champions Spain at Wembley before visiting Prague where they faced Czech Republic three days later.
Manager Thomas Tuchel will lead the Three Lions out in Croatia at a largely empty stadium in Rijeka, where England also played behind closed doors eight years ago as a result of a swastika being marked on the pitch ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier.
Croatia vs England will be played behind closed doors
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.
The sanctions date back to March 2025, when there were incidents involving fans around Croatia’s matches against France in the quarter-finals of the Nations League. Croatia’s football association paid a fine of around £80,000 and faced disciplinary proceedings relating to racism and discrimination.
Pick the ultimate 4-4-2 line-up from players in FourFourTwo’s definitive Top 100 List
The England game is the next home match played by Croatia under the auspices of UEFA competition, and is therefore a behind-closed-doors affair. Mostly.
Returning Croatia manager Slaven Bilic won’t have the backing of the Croatia fans for his first home international back at the helm, but there will be a handful of hardy England supporters in attendance.
“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,” the club has announced.
“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.”
England fans will be back in the stands in their usual numbers when they play Spain in the last game of their Nations League group at the Metropolitano in Madrid in the middle of November.
England secured an immediate return to League A in 2024/25 after suffering relegation to League B in the previous running of the competition.
They were drawn with the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland, winning five of their six matches to top the ground ahead of Greece. Both of the top two beat each other once and everyone else twice.
Interim manager Lee Carsley was in charge for England’s Nations League matches after the resignation of long-time England manager Gareth Southgate. Tuchel officially succeeded Carsley at the beginning of 2025.
