Nations League Saturday Roundup: England Thrash Croatia as Spain, Scotland and Switzerland Win

There was a night to remember for England, more history for an unstoppable Spain, and a first win as head coach for Sebastien Pocognoli, in a results-packed round across the Nations League's top three divisions.

In League A Group 3, England produced the best performance of the Thomas Tuchel era so far, thrashing Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka. 

Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka both scored twice, with Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and substitute Morgan Rogers also getting on the scoresheet, Bellingham finishing the night with a hand in four of the seven goals. Kane opened the scoring inside eight minutes after capitalising on a mistake from Josko Gvardiol, and England were four goals up by half time before adding three more after the break. 

The result was all the more remarkable given Croatia had never previously lost in Rijeka and had won all but four of their last 41 home games, albeit played in front of a sparse crowd of just over 6,000 due to a stadium ban following past crowd trouble.

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In the same group, Spain continued their remarkable run of form, beating the Czech Republic 3-1 in Oviedo to make it ten wins in a row since being crowned world champions. 

Lamine Yamal curled in an early opener before Rodri doubled the lead, and although Jiří Slámа pulled one back for the Czechs, Ladislav Krejčí's second-half red card made things easier for Spain, with Mikel Merino sealing the win late on. 

Spain remain top of Group A3 with nine points, three clear of England, and a win away at Croatia on Tuesday would be enough to secure their place in the quarter-finals with two games still to spare.

Over in League B Group 1, Scotland picked up their first win under new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli, beating North Macedonia 2-0 away in Skopje. 

Kieron Bowie opened the scoring with his first international goal inside seven minutes, and John McGinn added a second-half penalty after a handball decision went Scotland's way following a lengthy VAR check. Andy Robertson marked his 100th Scotland appearance with a busy shift, while goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski kept the hosts in it with several good saves. 

Scotland did finish the game with ten men for the second match running after Scott McKenna was sent off late on, but the win nonetheless marks a positive step forward following a 3-0 defeat to Switzerland earlier in the week. 

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In the same group, Switzerland came from behind to beat Slovenia 2-1, with Žan Vipotnik's early opener for the visitors cancelled out by an own goal before Dan Ndoye struck the winner just before half time.

League C Group 1 had goals of its own, with Finland beating Albania 2-1 in Helsinki. Rey Manaj's early opener for the visitors was cancelled out after Albania were reduced to ten men when Elvis Berisha was sent off, with Leo Walta scoring twice either side of the hour mark to seal the win.. 

In the same group, Belarus recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory over San Marino after all four goals came in the second half. A. Kontsevoy scored twice, while A. Shumanskiy and M. Ebong also found the net. K. Pechenin provided three assists as Belarus claimed all three points.

In League C Group 4, Estonia edged out Luxembourg 1-0 in Tallinn thanks to an early goal from Rasmus Peetson, and in the same group, Iceland beat Bulgaria 3-0 in Reykjavik, with Orri Óskarsson scoring twice and Mikael  Ellertsson adding a third late on.