Croatia boss forecasts bright England future: 'Football's coming home'

Zlatko Dalic has a song stuck in his head.

England fans' terrace anthem, "football's coming home" - borrowing a tune and lyrics from The Lightning Seeds' 1996 hit "Three Lions" - was one of the soundtracks to the summer's World Cup, but now the Croatia manager believes those words may carry some truth.

Croatia eliminated England from the World Cup at the semifinal stage, but the Three Lions enjoyed slight revenge in Sunday's 2-1 win. The victory sent England into the final four of the Nations League, relegating Croatia to the competition's second tier.

"Football's coming home ... very soon," Dalic replied when asked to compare the England team he met at the World Cup to the one in Sunday's skirmish, according to ESPN's Liam Twomey.

Croatia took the lead at Wembley with a deflected strike from Andrej Kramaric, but England fired back via a tap-in from substitute Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane's short-range poke past Lovre Kalinic after 85 minutes. Without Kane's late winner, England would've been demoted into League B rather than finishing the afternoon sitting above Spain and Croatia in the group.

"I don't know," Dalic added when quizzed on whether England has improved. "That's maybe more a question for them to assess if they are improving or not. I see them as a good team, a young team. They have a bright future in front of them. They are in the final four of this UEFA Nations League and it's showing that they are in a good way."