England’s Nations League match against Croatia on Saturday will be played behind closed doors in Rijeka. The fixture is taking place in front of a reduced capacity, with the restrictions imposed because of crowd disturbances involving Croatia fans at a Nations League match against France in March 2025.
During that game at Stade de France, seven fans were taken into custody on suspicion of making Nazi salutes. They were released without prosecution because of a lack of evidence. Croatia supporters in their section of the stadium also set off fireworks.
The consequences have extended beyond Saturday’s match. Croatia were also prohibited from having travelling supporters at their 2-1 win over the Czech Republic last Saturday.
Although the match is officially behind closed doors, it will not be completely empty. Between 3,000 and 6,000 Croatian schoolchildren have been permitted to attend the match in Rijeka.
England fans were initially not allowed to attend. Following discussions with Uefa and England, the Three Lions were later permitted to have 100 complimentary tickets given to their supporters.
The fixture is taking place at the same venue where England and Croatia met in October 2018, when they also played behind closed doors and drew 0-0.