With a large number of fans in the Croatian capital for Wednesday's European Championship qualifier between the teams, a police cordon prevented two larger groups from meeting at the city's main square.

Most of the fans detained clashed in and in front of bars in downtown Zagreb and most of them were intoxicated, police said Wednesday.

``They certainly won't be watching the game tonight,'' head of Zagreb police Marijan Tomurad said.

Police estimated that more than 2,000 England fans were headed for the match.

The match had already been declared high risk, with a record number of local police and security agents posted to prevent possible violence.

UEFA has warned Croatia that it may be banned from Euro 2008 if fans continue with racist chanting and other misdemeanours.