Croatia vs France

In a repetition of the 2018 World Cup showpiece, Croatia and France go head-to-head in this exciting UEFA Nations League Group A1 encounter.

Croatia head into proceedings devastated by a disheartening 3-0 loss to Austria in their Group A1 curtain-raiser, which halted their nine-match unbeaten streak in the post-Euro 2020 period (W6, D3). However, it has extended Croatia’s losing run in the Nations League to four, a sequence which started with a 2-1 home defeat to France of all teams. Despite scoring in all three previous meetings with ‘Les Bleus,’ the ‘Blazers’ have lost each, trailing at half-time by a single-goal margin each time. Zlatko Dalic will hope to regroup his troops and reignite Croatia’s defensive stubbornness that had seen them go five matches without conceding in seven prior to the aforementioned reverse against Austria.

In the meantime, France suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 home defeat to Denmark in their tournament opener despite breaking the deadlock six minutes into the second half. Didier Deschamps will be keen to get his side back to winning ways after seeing their seven-match undefeated streak come to a halt last time out. Interestingly, that result means that each of France’s last four Nations League outings witnessed the side to open the scoring end up on the losing side (W3, L1). With Deschamps back in the dugout following the tragic death of his father, ‘Les Bleus’ will be after their fourth straight Nations League win on the road, with two of their last three coming by a 1-0 scoreline.