Analysis and prediction for Croatia vs France: Mbappe will finish off the home team.
The Croatia vs France Nations League match will take place at 1:45 AM on March 21st. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes the teams' form, provides football commentary, and predicts the score.
The rematch of the 2018 World Cup final will be the focus at Stadion Poljud in Split on Thursday evening, as Croatia hosts France in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals.
The winner of this match will face either the Netherlands or Spain in the semi-finals in June.
Latest information on the Croatia vs France squad
Croatia will be without midfielders Luka Sucic and Lovro Majer, as well as striker Igor Matanovic, due to injury. Meanwhile, Bruno Petkovic has recovered from a long-term hip injury but was not called up this time.
At 39 years old, Real Madrid captain Luka Modric is aiming for his 185th international cap and could partner Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City) and Petar Sucic (Dinamo Zagreb) in midfield. Sucic has completed his suspension and is ready to return to the starting lineup.
Croatia's defense will most likely be led by the duo of Josko Gvardiol and Josip Sutalo, while in attack, Ivan Perisic – the team's top scorer with 33 goals – could start alongside Andrej Kramaric and Martin Baturina.
On the French side, striker Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) has withdrawn from the squad due to an ankle injury, and coach Didier Deschamps has decided not to call up a replacement.
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid) returns to the national team after missing two recent training camps. He could feature in the attack alongside Michael Olise, Randal Kolo Muani, and Ousmane Dembele – who is currently in excellent form.
Deschamps will have to choose between Theo Hernandez and Lucas Digne for the left-back position, while Adrien Rabiot is almost certain to start in midfield after his impressive performance with two goals and an assist in the 3-1 win against Italy in November, marking his 50th cap for the national team.
Latest predicted lineups for Croatia vs France
Croatia:
Livakovic; Juranovic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Modric, P. Sucic; Perisic, Kramaric, Baturina
France:
Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Hernandez; Tchouameni, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Mbappe; Kolo Muani
Latest football match prediction: Croatia vs France
After being eliminated from Euro 2024 in the group stage, Croatia earned eight points from six matches (2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses) to finish second in Group A1 of the Nations League in the latter half of last year.
Zlatko Dalic's team failed to win in their last three group stage matches (two draws, one loss), including a 0-1 defeat to Scotland sandwiched between draws against Poland (3-3) and Portugal (1-1). However, they still qualified for the knockout round despite not being in their best form.
Ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, Croatia nearly won the Nations League title in 2023, losing to Spain 4-5 on penalties in the final after 120 minutes without a goal.
Croatia will look to capitalize on their home advantage in the first leg against France on Thursday, having lost only one of their last seven home games in all competitions, keeping five clean sheets and conceding only two goals in that run.
However, the Croatian team has never really had the upper hand against France, winning only one of their last 10 encounters. Even so, that single victory was in the most recent meeting between the two teams in the 2022 Nations League, when Croatia won 1-0 away in March 2022.
On the French side, although Spain is the reigning champion of the Nations League and Euro, it is the French national team that has the highest ranking in Europe on the FIFA rankings, second in the world after the 2022 World Cup champion Argentina.
Didier Deschamps has managed Les Bleus for nearly 13 years, winning 105 out of 165 matches (a 63.64% win rate). However, the 56-year-old coach has confirmed that he will step down after the 2026 World Cup.
France significantly improved their performance compared to the 2023 Nations League, progressing from the group stage with 13 points from six matches (4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss) in Group A2, beating Italy on head-to-head record.
Les Bleus are currently aiming for their second Nations League title under Deschamps, after winning the 2020-21 tournament. They enter the match in Split with impressive away form, having won their last three away games with a combined score of 9-3, including victories against Belgium and Italy.
Although they couldn't beat Croatia in the previous Nations League group stage matches (one draw, one loss), France did manage to do so in the 2020 tournament, including a 2-1 victory away in Zagreb. Prior to that, they also defeated Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
Latest Croatia vs France score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Croatia vs Franceas follows:
- Sportsmole:Croatia 1-2 France
- WhoScore:Croatia 0-2 France
- Our newspaper predicts:Croatia 1-2 France
When and where can I watch Croatia vs France live?
To watch the Croatia vs France match live in the Nations League, taking place at 1:45 AM on March 21st, viewers can tune in to the following channels:K+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. We hope you enjoy watching football.
