England player ratings vs. Croatia: Chelsea & Newcastle stars shine for Three Lions

It might not have been quite as easy as it had been in Rijeka six weeks ago, but England nonetheless beat Croatia at Wembley – the third time they have defeated the same opposition in 2026 – and kept their hopes of a place in next year’s Nations League finals alive.

England weren’t at their most convincing, but were still good value for a 2-1 victory which ensures that they will at least retain their League A place in two years’ time, while simultaneously guaranteeing themselves a place in the European Championship play-offs should their forthcoming qualification campaign go wrong.

Thomas Tuchel decided to pick what he viewed as the strongest side available to him in the absence of Bukayo Saka, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Djed Spence, but which players repaid the manager’s faith, and which struggled to stake a claim for future starts? We’ve rated every England player out of 10 below.

Burn makes his presence felt for England as Quansah slips up

Jordan Pickford – 6/10: Given that Pickford’s place is under pressure for the first time in years, he might have hoped for the chance to make a point at Wembley. Instead, he got four entirely routine saves to make and was powerless to prevent Petar Sučić’s equaliser. The Everton man also struggled to make his presence felt in the box at set piece situations, which were the source of most of England’s nerviest moments.

Lewis Hall – 6: Hall started badly, allowing Sučić to rob him easily as he tried to shepherd a ball out of play in the opening exchanges, and struggled in one-on-one situations all night – he was dribbled past three times and won just two of 11 ground duels. His work going forward was far better, however, and his crisp passing, sharp overlapping runs and precise crosses created three shooting opportunities, the most of anybody on the field alongside Morgan Rogers. A very mixed bag, then.

Dan Burn – 8: Given how many set plays there were in this game at both ends of the field, Burn had plenty of chances to put his immense physical frame to good use, and did – he was unfortunate not to score from one of his headers but bullied opposing players in the air time and again in both penalty areas. There’s a certain type of game that Burn is just extremely well suited to, and this turned out to be it.

Jarell Quansah – 4: Quansah, on the other hand, found it much harder to impose himself on Croatia’s physical attack and was already struggling to make his presence felt when his ill-considered blind header back to Jordan Pickford gifted Sučić his goal. The 23-year-old has been frustratingly inconsistent for his country so far, and didn’t make a strong case to start ahead of Konsa in Madrid on Sunday.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6: Another former Liverpool defender with a point to prove to Tuchel. Alexander-Arnold made a slightly better fist of it but there were issues – none of his crosses found a team-mate, and none of his tackles succeeded. Still, his dynamism in attack was noticeable at times and he wasn’t responsible for any glaring ricks at the back.

Rogers shines as Kane celebrates against Croatia

Declan Rice – 6: Rice completed every single pass he attempted at Wembley, which is pretty impressive, and created at least one big chance, but was often bypassed in midfield and didn’t have much of an impact off the ball for once, making just one tackle and forcing a relatively meagre three turnovers.

Elliot Anderson – 7: Anderson, meanwhile, was far more heavily involved than Rice and shut down many more Croatian attacks, but also made a fair few mistakes, conceding possession in needless (and uncharacteristic) fashion on several occasions. His ability to break down opposing moves and get the ball downfield with the ball at his feet ensured that he did more good than harm, however.

Anthony Gordon – 5: A quiet night for arguably England’s best player during the first run of Nations League matches. Gordon beavered away down the left wing but struggled to find space and was restricted to a couple of shots which could scarcely be described as half-chances.

Jude Bellingham – 6: There were flashes of Bellingham’s best and he can claim credit for the assist for Rogers’ opening goal – he also teed up James Garner’s disallowed strike but was indeed offside - but he was quiet for long periods despite working hard out of possession.

Morgan Rogers – 8: It may not be his best position at club level, but Rogers is starting to mount a serious challenge to Saka’s spot on England’s right wing. After tapping in the opening goal, Rogers created three more opportunities for his team-mates and created constant havoc with his smart runs and technical excellence, beating defenders inside and outside on several occasions. The most expensive player in English history was also their most creative and threatening against Croatia.

Harry Kane – 7: It was entirely apt that Kane should celebrate both his Ballon d’Or win and his record-breaking 126th cap with that most Kanesque of goals, the coolly-dispatched penalty. He probably should have scored a little earlier when his goalbound effort was cleared off the line not long after half-time, but the celebrations came eventually. Only five players have now scored more international goals than one of England’s all-time greats.

James Garner (on for Rice 77’), Rio Ngumoha (on for Gordon 77’) and Ben White (on for Alexander-Arnold 77’) – N/A: Tuchel left his substitutions until late in the piece and none of the players who came off the bench had time to make a particularly noteworthy impact except for the luckless Garner, who celebrated his first England goal for a heartbreakingly long time before he realised that Bellingham had in fact been well offside in the build-up.