Nations League | Quarter-Finals | 1st Leg

Mar 20, 2025 at 7.45pm UK

Stadion Poljud

Croatia vs France

Match preview

After a disappointing group-stage exit at Euro 2024 last summer, Croatia took eight points from six games (W2 D2 L2) to finish second in Nations League Group 1 in the second half of last year.

Zlatko Dalic's side failed to win any of their final three games (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 qualify for the knockout stages.

Croatia, ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, narrowly missed out on Nations League glory in 2023 when they lost out to champions Spain 5-4 on penalties in the final after a tense goalless stalemate that lasted 120 minutes.

Croatia will be keen to make the most of their home advantage against France in Thursday's first leg, having lost just one of their last seven games in front of home fans in all competitions, keeping five clean sheets and conceding just two goals.

The Checkered Ones have struggled against France over the years, winning just one of their last 10 meetings, although that was in the last Nations League tournament - a 1-0 away win in March 2022.

Although Spain are the reigning Nations League and European champions, Euro 2024 semi-finalists France 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 in charge of Les Bleus for almost 13 years, winning 105 of his 165 games in charge (63.64%), but the 56-year-old has confirmed that he will step down after the 2026 World Cup.

France have already improved on their performance at the last edition of the Nations League in 2023, when they failed to progress beyond the group stage, as they finished top of League A Group 2 with 13 points from six games (W4 D1 L1) at the end of last year, ahead of Italy in second place on the strength of their superior head-to-head record.

Les Bleus are now bidding for 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 their last three away games by an aggregate score of 9-3, beating Belgium and Italy in the process.

France may not have beaten Croatia in the group stage of the last Nations League (D1 L1), but they did the double over the Checkers in the 2020 tournament, including a 2-1 away win in Zagreb. Before that, they beat Croatia 4-2 in the final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Recent Performance

Croatia Nations League form:LWWDLD

France Nations League form:LWWWDW

Team News

Croatia will be without midfield duo Luka Sucic and Lovro Majer, as well as striker Igor Matanovic due to injury. Bruno Petkovic 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 for his 185th cap and could be joined in midfield by Manchester City's Mateo Kovacic and Dinamo Zagreb's Petar Sucic, who served a one-match ban last time out and is now available to return.

Josko Gvardiol and Josip Sutalo will both start at the back, while Ivan Perisic - Croatia's top scorer with 33 international goals - could start in attack alongside Andrej Kramaric and Martin Baturina.

As for France, Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram has been ruled out of the squad with an ankle injury and Deschamps has decided not to name a replacement.

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe is back in the squad after missing the last two international breaks, and he could join Michael Olise, Randal Kolo Muani and the in-form Ousmane Dembele in a front four.

Deschamps will consider whether to start Theo Hernandez or Lucas Digne at left-back, while Adrien Rabiot is likely to start in midfield after scoring twice and providing an assist in the 3-1 win over Italy in mid-November, his 50th cap for France.

Possible starting lineup

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