Kane and Saka double up as England school Croatia in historic 7-0 Nations League rout

It had all the edge of a pop concert in the stands but England looked ready to steal candy from a baby. The 6,200 Croatian under-14s allowed inside Stadion HNK Rijeka were invited free of charge and this was a priceless footballing experience. England ripped Croatia to shreds to take a firm grip on second place in their Nations League group, boosting their hopes of reaching next year’s quarter-finals, and anyone supporting the home team could at least find consolation in watching Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham combine to devastating effect.

Perhaps the ticket should have come with an adult age rating. This was grisly viewing for the locals but Thomas Tuchel delighted in England’s most complete performance since surging to a 4-2 win over Croatia at the World Cup. Kane marked his 124th cap with his 88th and 89th international strikes and had plenty of help. Three assists and a goal decorated a scintillating display from Bellingham and Tuchel found satisfaction in the other members of his ruthless front four getting on the scoresheet.

Related: Tuchel convinced England have buried World Cup woes with Croatia thrashing

Everything clicked. England could have had double figures against opponents ranked 13th in the world but they settled for seven. Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka were in lightning, goalscoring form on the flanks and another story was an exceptional full debut from Alex Scott. The 23-year-old proved that he belongs, impressing with his tenacity and quality on and off the ball, and made it hard to shake off the sense that Tuchel missed a trick by not taking him to the World Cup.

One gorgeous, defence-splitting ball from Scott to release Gordon emphasised that this is a player with a big England future. This was the Bournemouth youngster’s second cap and it said much about Tuchel’s belief in Scott that he deployed him against Luka Modric, even if the great Croatia midfielder has seen better days.

The occasion was nowhere near as surreal as when England played here with no supporters present in 2018. It was meant to be behind closed doors again – Uefa had punished Croatia after discriminatory and racist fan behaviour during last year’s Nations League quarter-finals – but the rules allow tickets to go to local children and the constant high-pitched cheers were a reminder that much of the crowd were not alive when Modric first faced England 20 years ago.

Tuchel knew youth was on his team’s side. Modric is 41 and, given that he was accompanied by another old timer in Mateo Kovacic, it not a surprise that Scott and Elliot Anderson, resuming their partnership when England won the Under-21 European Championship last year, dominated.

Anderson, Scott and Bellingham were superb. Bellingham, back in the side after being rested during Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Czechia, was still going near the end, sending the England substitute Morgan Rogers through to make it 7-0.

The mind went back to when these sides met in their opening game at the World Cup. Anthony Barry gave an impassioned half-time interview and, having struggled in defence during the first half, England emerged triumphant after producing one of their best spells of attacking football under Tuchel.

Replicating those levels has been hard since then, but this was like Dallas. There was a moment when Bellingham went shoulder to shoulder with Modric and just eased his former Real Madrid teammate aside. England were quicker and stronger. The press was aggressive and Croatia were in damage limitation mode by the time Bellingham made it 2-0 in the 21st minute, stabbing past Dominik Livakovic from close range after Gordon plucked Saka’s cross out of the sky before cracking a low ball into the six-yard box.

Slaven Bilic, back in charge of Croatia for a second spell, was powerless to respond. England led after eight minutes, moving in a blur when Marc Guéhi cut out a loose pass from Josko Gvardiol. Bellingham scanned, turned and chose the logical option. He shovelled the ball through a gap; Kane, free of Gvardiol and Luka Vuskovic, set himself and rammed a shot past Livakovic.

The kids booed and gave a collective thumbs down as England’s captain celebrated, but they were watching greatness. Funny, of course, to think there was a time when Kane and Bellingham barely passed to each other. There is no problem with their relationship these days.

Gordon, again linking well with Lewis Hall, was a constant outlet on the left. He kept bursting beyond Josip Stanisic and now has a goal or assist in each of his last seven England games. It was 3-0 when Jarell Quansah, in for Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right, hit back at criticism of his crossing ability by whipping in a ball for Gordon to head past Livakovic.

Quansah was one of five changes by Tuchel, who also restored Jordan Pickford in goal. Pickford remains the No 1 and made a key intervention at 1-0, rushing out to smother as Ivan Perisic threatened.

England dozed off after Gordon’s goal. A rare misstep from Anderson led to an opening for Kovacic, who somehow shot wide after rounding Pickford. England responded on the stroke of half-time. Kane dropped back to help out and start a counterattack which ended with Bellingham toying with Croatia before crossing for Saka to score.

The 100 England fans given tickets enjoyed their evening. There was no let-up after the break. Anderson zipped down the right and crossed for a stretching Kane to score.

It was not long before Croatia, who suffered their biggest ever defeat, removed Modric. The night belonged to England’s stars. Kane, who set up Saka to make it 6-0 in the 68th minute will equal Peter Shilton’s appearance record when England host Czechia on Tuesday. The 33-year-old is not slowing down.