England will have to wait just three months to avenge their World Cup semifinal defeat against Croatia, but Gareth Southgate’s team faces the challenge of playing the game in an empty stadium in Rijeka.
Goals by Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic, following Kieran Trippier’s fifth-minute opener for England, secured Croatia’s place in their first World Cup final against France in Moscow on Sunday.
The two teams are due to meet again in the UEFA Nations League in October, however, after being paired with Spain in the same section of the new competition.
England’s visit to Croatia on Oct. 12 will be played behind closed doors at Rijeka’s Rujevica Stadium, though, with the Croatian Football Federation still to serve the second game of a two-match punishment imposed by UEFA in 2015.
The penalty of a two-game stadium ban was handed down by UEFA after a swastika was marked on the pitch prior to Croatia’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy at Stadin Poljud in Split in June 2015.
Croatia served the first game of the ban with a behind-closed-doors clash against Bulgaria in October 2015, but England’s visit will be the first competitive UEFA fixture played by the World Cup finalists since the Bulgaria clash.
The England game could also be Croatia’s first home match since the World Cup, but the team is currently due to travel to Spain for their Nations League opener on Sept. 11.
Croatia are then scheduled to play a friendly against Jordan in Rijeka on Oct. 15.
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