England vs. Croatia produced a remarkable 7-0 Nations League result on Saturday, with Bukayo Saka scoring twice and Harry Kane also finding the net twice. Yet after the final whistle, Saka was not interested in making the night about himself. Instead, the Arsenal winger singled out Jude Bellingham for special praise.
Bellingham scored once and provided three assists as England dismantled Croatia, giving Saka plenty of reason to highlight his teammate despite his own two-goal performance.
Speaking to ITV Sport after the England vs Croatia win, Saka immediately turned attention toward Bellingham when asked about the standout performers.
“He [Bellingham] was amazing tonight to be fair. He deserved [England] Player of the Year and he probably deserves man of the match tonight as well. He was special. Happy to play with him and happy to have him in the England team.”
Saka also praised Anthony Gordon, who scored England’s third goal in the first half.
“Another player who is also on fire in an England shirt and it is nice to have players like that around you.”
Only after highlighting his teammates did Saka reflect on England’s performance.
“It was an amazing night for us, we played with high energy and spirit and punished them tonight.”
The Arsenal winger also refused to look too far ahead despite the emphatic result.
“There are still three games left, but that will definitely give us a massive confidence.”
Saka’s comments were particularly notable because he had just scored twice himself. Rather than putting his own performance at the centre of the conversation, he pointed toward a teammate who had played a major role in almost everything England did well.
The numbers from England’s 7-0 win provide a clear explanation for Saka’s praise.
Bellingham scored England’s second goal and then became a major creative force. He provided the assist for Saka’s first goal before setting up further goals as England continued to overwhelm Croatia.
By the end of the match, Bellingham had contributed one goal and three assists, meaning he was directly involved in four of England’s seven goals. That made his influence difficult to overlook, even on a night when Saka and Kane both scored twice.
Reuters’ report on the match also highlighted Bellingham’s three assists and described how England’s attack repeatedly exposed Croatia.
There was additional context behind Saka’s comments. Just days before the match, Bellingham had been named England Men’s Player of the Year for 2025-26 by the Football Association.
That means Saka’s reference to Bellingham deserving the award was not simply a generic compliment. He had already received the honour, and Saka was reinforcing the midfielder’s importance after another influential England performance.
England took control almost immediately. Kane opened the scoring in the eighth minute after combining with Bellingham. Thirteen minutes later, Bellingham got his own name on the scoresheet to make it 2-0.
Gordon then made it 3-0 before half-time, with Bellingham again involved in England’s attacking play.
Saka added England’s fourth shortly before the break after another Bellingham contribution, meaning England’s four starting attackers — Kane, Bellingham, Gordon and Saka — had all scored before half-time.
The second half brought no Croatian recovery. Kane scored his second in the 53rd minute, while Saka completed his brace in the 68th. Substitute Morgan Rogers then added a seventh goal late in the game.
The result gave England their biggest-ever victory over Croatia and inflicted Croatia’s heaviest defeat as a national team. The Guardian’s match report also highlighted England’s dominant attacking performance and Bellingham’s three-assist contribution.
Saka’s own performance should not be overlooked simply because he praised Bellingham. The winger scored twice and could have completed a hat-trick after finding space again in the second half. His first goal came shortly before half-time, when Bellingham supplied the final pass after England had worked Croatia’s defence open.
Saka then added his second after a defensive mistake from Josip StaniÅ¡ić, taking England’s lead to 6-0. It was a significant response from the Arsenal forward following the criticism surrounding England’s previous Nations League match against Spain.
England lost that game 3-2, and Saka had a quieter attacking performance by his usual standards. Football365’s player ratings noted that Saka had more touches in the opposition box than any other England player but was unable to turn that involvement into a decisive contribution. Against Croatia, he did exactly that.
Two goals also ensured that Saka’s performance could not be reduced to simply being part of a strong England attack.
What made the England vs Croatia result particularly striking was the number of players contributing to the attack.
Kane scored twice. Saka scored twice, Gordon scored once, Rogers scored after coming off the bench and Bellingham contributed one goal and three assists. That distribution matters because it shows how England’s attack functioned collectively rather than depending on a single scorer.
Bellingham’s role was especially important because he combined scoring with chance creation. He could arrive in the box himself, but he also repeatedly found teammates in dangerous positions. That is why Saka’s decision to praise him makes sense.
The Arsenal winger was not simply ignoring his own two-goal performance. He was recognizing how much Bellingham had contributed to the overall attacking display.
Saka himself provided the appropriate warning after the final whistle. There are still three Nations League matches remaining, so the 7-0 result does not settle every question surrounding England.
The victory does, however, give Thomas Tuchel’s side considerable momentum after the defeat to Spain. More importantly, it demonstrated the attacking options available to England.
Saka can provide goals from the right, Gordon can threaten from the opposite side. Kane remains England’s central goalscoring outlet and Bellingham can influence matches both as a scorer and creator.
The next challenge will be maintaining that attacking efficiency against opponents capable of restricting the space England found against Croatia.
For Saka, though, the immediate story was already clear. He scored twice in England’s biggest-ever victory over Croatia, but when asked about the standout player, he pointed to Bellingham.
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