England put in a statement performance as they crushed Croatia 7-0 in the Nations League on Saturday.
Braces from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, and further strikes from Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers, delivered the Three Lions’ best-ever result against a top-50-ranked nation. And given Croatia’s pedigree over the last eight years, it is sure to push aside any doubts raised by England’s 3-2 loss to Spain earlier in this international break.
But where does this thrashing of Croatia stand among England’s heaviest wins of the 21st century overall?
5. 7-0 vs Croatia (3 October, 2026)
This was the third time England have scored seven in a single match in the 21st century, but by far the most impressive opponent to so against. It’s also the first time they’ve done it under Thomas Tuchel. Harry Kane opened the scoring after only eight minutes and added his second of the night in the 53rd. By then, though, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka had all scored, with the latter adding another and Morgan Rogers getting in on the action at the end.
It was a ruthless dismantling of a side containing the likes of Luka Modric, Josko Gvardiol, Ivan Perisic and Mateo Kovacic, spearheaded by Bellingham, who notched a hat-trick of assists as well as scoring his own goal.
4. 7-0 vs North Macedonia (19 June, 2023)
Given the difficulty of the opposition they faced, England’s Euro 2024 qualification campaign was a thing of beauty, doing the double over Italy — including winning in Naples — and scoring 22 goals in eight matches. Even North Macedonia couldn’t be viewed as pushovers, given they’d made Euro 2020 and pushed Ukraine hard in the group stage.
But England didn’t care about any of that at Old Trafford in June 2023. Kane and Saka were once again in the thick of it, the former scoring twice and the latter netting a hat-trick, while Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips also got involved in the goalmouth action. North Macedonia didn’t even manage a single shot in reply, illustrating just how dominant Gareth Southgate‘s men were.
3. 7-0 vs Montenegro (14 November, 2019)
Scoring seven against a Balkan country wasn’t a new feat for Southgate’s England, who had already done just that against Montenegro in November 2019, once again in Euros qualifying.
It was a very different-looking England squad that day, with Tammy Abraham and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the scoresheet, while Harry Winks, Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, James Maddison and Joe Gomez also saw the field. But there were a couple of familiar sights, with Kane scoring a hat-trick and Marcus Rashford finding the net.
2. 8-0 vs San Marino (22 March, 2013)
San Marino are responsible for one of the most embarrassing moments in modern English football history when they took the lead in the first minute of their World Cup qualifier in November 1993 — an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the Three Lions.
But there was none of that in March 2013, when Roy Hodgson’s side put La Serenissima to the sword. Oxlade-Chamberlain scored that night in Serravalle, alongside Jermain Defoe (x2), Ashley Young, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge and an Alessandro Della Valle own goal. That World Cup qualifying campaign was much more successful, with the Three Lions top without defeat, even if the tournament that followed was an embarrassment.
1. 10-0 vs San Marino (15 November, 2021)
England weren’t done with San Marino in 2013, going on to beat them 5-0 twice and 6-0 in the following years. But it was the last meeting with the country of just over 34,000 inhabitants that was the most ruthless.
Southgate’s men absolutely ripped San Marino apart during their November 2021 World Cup qualifier. The Three Lions were 6-0 up by half-time thanks to Harry Maguire‘s early opener, a Filippo Fabbri own goal and four Kane goals. They didn’t relent after the break, either, with Emile Smith Rowe, Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Bukayo Saka all getting in on the action.
To San Marino’s credit, they managed a shot in each half, while they even scored in their next international match — a 2-1 friendly defeat to Lithuania. But for England, this match represents the high-water mark of goalscoring this century.