Croatia have entered a very difficult phase after suffering a historic 0-7 defeat against their visitors England on Saturday evening in the UEFA Nations League, in one of the harshest defeats in the history of a national team that has been accustomed to performing strongly on the international stage in recent years.
England did not just settle for the win; they effectively decided the match in the first half, finishing the opening 45 minutes with a four-goal lead. They continued their goal fest in the second half, inflicting Croatia's heaviest defeat in history, at a time when hopes were pinned on coach Slaven Bilić to lead a new era following Zlatko Dalić's departure after the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Slaven Bilić's start with the Croatia national team brought some positive signs with a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, but the team then fell to Spain with a score of 1-4, before suffering a heavy defeat against England, raising the number of goals conceded by Croatia to 12 in just one week.
After the match, several players expressed their shock at the performance, with Luka Modrić describing what happened as unacceptable. He said: "I have been here for 20 years, but this is the first time I feel ashamed after a match. We can lose when the opponent is better, but we cannot lose like this and ruin the reputation we have built over the years."
Slaven Bilić takes full responsibility for the defeat, asserting that the significant gap cannot be explained by the unpreparedness of some players or their lack of regular participation with their clubs. This crisis comes ahead of the match against Spain again on Tuesday, amid increasing pressure on the Croatian coach after just three matches since his return to lead the national team.
