There are defeats that disappear quickly, and there are defeats that linger long enough to shape the next meeting. Croatia’s 7-0 loss to England in Rijeka last month clearly belongs in the second category, which is why Thursday’s Nations League rematch at Wembley carries more weight than a routine fixture. For Croatia, this is not just another night in the England team tonight conversation. It is a chance to see whether a bruised side can restore some self-respect after a result that left a scar on the national game.
Luka Modric did not hide from the scale of it. After the defeat, he said: “I’ve been here for 20 years and this is the first time I feel ashamed.” That alone tells you how rare the result was in Croatian terms. He also added that losing is one thing, but “to squander the reputation we worked so hard and so long building” was unacceptable. Those are not throwaway lines. They underline how badly the loss cut into the sense of identity around this team.
The football reasons for that unease are obvious enough. England’s style creates a difficult matchup for Croatia, which still revolves around a 41-year-old playmaker and lacks a true defensive midfielder or top wingers. That imbalance matters because it leaves Croatia trying to solve a modern, athletic, high-tempo opponent with a structure that no longer has the same margin for error. When England can press, accelerate and stretch the pitch, Croatia are forced into a game they do not seem built to control for long spells.
What the last two matches showed
The response after Rijeka was not complete collapse. Three days later, Croatia produced a battling display against Spain and were level at 1-1 before Ivan Perisic was sent off in the 79th minute. That was a reminder that this team can still compete emotionally, even if the structural questions remain. But Perisic will be unavailable for the Wembley rematch, and that is not a small loss. Croatia needed experience and direct threat, and they will not have one of their key outlets.
Slaven Bilic, meanwhile, was blunt about the scale of the problem. “We were no match for them in any respect: challenges, aggression, technique, physicality … And then, of course, your confidence, your focus and your mental resolve all drop and everything falls apart,” he said. He also called the defeat an “eternal shame” and argued that this was not the kind of game to forget. Instead, he insisted, it should be remembered for the rest of their lives so they never repeat it.
That is the right emotional frame for Thursday. Croatia cannot replay Rijeka, but they can decide whether that match becomes a warning or a permanent reference point. Wembley will not erase the 7-0 scoreline, and it may not even produce a clean answer about whether the gap has narrowed. What it can do is show whether Croatia are still capable of recovering their shape, discipline and belief against a team that has already shown how easily it can expose them.
For England, the challenge is simpler. They know they have already found the weakness once, and the burden now is to prove that result was not a one-off. For Croatia, the night is about more than points. It is about whether a heavy defeat can become a lesson rather than a legacy.
