A repeat of the 2018 World Cup final takes centre stage at Stadion Poljud in Split on Thursday night as Croatia play host to France in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie.
The winners of this two-legged contest will face either the Netherlands or Spain in the semi-finals in June.
Match preview
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After suffering a disappointing group-stage exit at Euro 2024 last summer, Croatia accumulated eight points from six matches (W2 D2 L2) to finish second in League A Group 1 of the Nations League in the second half of last year.
Zlatko Dalic's side failed to win any of their final three matches (D2 L1), losing 1-0 to Scotland in between draws with Poland (3-3) and group winners Portugal (1-1), but they did enough to limp into the knockout rounds.
Ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, Croatia narrowly missed out on Nations League glory in 2023 when they were beaten 5-4 on penalties by champions Spain in the final following a tense goalless stalemate played out over 120 minutes.
Croatia will endeavour to make the most of their home advantage against France in the first leg on Thursday, as they have lost only one of their last seven games in front of their own fans in all competitions, keeping five clean sheets and conceding only two goals in the process.
However, the Checkered Ones have struggled to come out on top against France over the years and have won just one of their last 10 meetings, although it was their most recent encounter in the previous Nations League tournament - a 1-0 away success in March 2022.
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Although Spain are the reigning Nations League and Euros champions, it is Euro 2024 semi-finalists France who are the highest-ranked European nation and the second-highest ranked country in the world behind 2022 World Cup winners Argentina.
Didier Deschamps has been manager of Les Bleus for almost 13 years, winning 105 of his 165 games (63.64%) at the helm, but the 56-year-old has confirmed that he will be stepping down from his post after the 2026 World Cup.
France have already bettered their efforts from the previous Nations League tournament in 2023 when they failed to progress from the group stage, as they picked up 13 points from six games (W4 D1 L1) in League A Group 2 at the end of last year to finish top and ahead of Italy in second based on their superior head-to-head record.
Les Bleus are now bidding to win a second Nations League trophy under Deschamps after going all the way in the 2020-21 competition, and they travel to Split on Thursday having won each of their last three away games by an aggregate score of 9-3, beating Belgium and Italy in the process.
Although France were unable to beat Croatia in the group stage of the previous Nations League (D1 L1), they did do the double over the Checkered Ones in the 2020 tournament, including a 2-1 away win in Zagreb. Prior to that, they beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
Team News
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Croatia will be without midfield duo Luka Sucic and Lovro Majer as well as attacker Igor Matanovic due to injury. Bruno Petkovic, meanwhile, has recently recovered from a long-term hip problem, but the striker has not been called up this month.
At the ripe old age of 39, Real Madrid captain Luka Modric is in contention to earn his 185th international cap and could be joined in midfield by Manchester City's Mateo Kovacic and Dinamo Zagreb's Petar Sucic, who served a one-match suspension last time out and is now available to return.
Josko Gvardiol and Josip Sutalo are both set to start in defence, while Ivan Perisic - the top-scoring player in Croatia's current squad with 33 international goals - could be handed a start in attack alongside Andrej Kramaric and Martin Baturina.
As for France, Inter Milan forward Marcus Thuram has withdrawn from the squad due to an ankle injury, and Deschamps has decided against calling up a replacement.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is back in the squad after being omitted from the past two international breaks and he could be joined in a front four with Michael Olise, Randal Kolo Muani and in-form Ousmane Dembele.
Deschamps will weigh up whether to select Theo Hernandez or Lucas Digne at left-back, while Adrien Rabiot is poised to start in midfield after scoring two goals and providing an assist on his 50th international cap for France in a 3-1 win over Italy in mid-November.
Croatia possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Juranovic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Modric, P. Sucic; Perisic, Kramaric, Baturina
France possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Mbappe; Kolo Muani
We say: Croatia 1-2 France
Although Croatia have fared better on home soil over the past 18 months, they will enter Thursday's contest as underdogs against a strong France outfit who have been boosted by the return of their star attacker and captain Mbappe.
First legs can often be tight affairs, but we are backing Les Bleus to come out on top and take a slender advantage into Sunday's second leg in Paris.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
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