Thursday's opening quarter-final encounter featured two star wingers at opposite ends of their careers, as while Real Madrid hotshot Kylian Mbappe is about to enter his prime years, Ivan Perisic - a man 10 years his senior - is enjoying the last knockings of his illustrious journey.

However, it was the 36-year-old veteran who stole the spotlight at Stadion Pojlud, providing a delicate delivery for Ante Budimir to nod home the opening goal before finding the bottom corner with an exquisite half-volley on the stroke of half time.

France could have found themselves facing a 3-0 deficit for Sunday's second leg had Mike Maignan not kept out a tame Andrej Kramaric penalty just eight minutes in, but the mountain for Les Bleus to climb this weekend is an incredibly steep one nonetheless.

A deserved defeat on the road brought an end to a five-game unbeaten run for Didier Deschamps's team, who will wave goodbye to their long-serving head coach following the 2026 World Cup, and marked just their second loss from their last 12 Nations League games outside of France.

The less said about Les Bleus' Nations League exploits on home turf the better too, as they have only managed to win two of their last six matches in the competition in front of their own fans, having previously gone unbeaten in each of their first five, winning four of them.

As France conducted their first-leg post-mortem, Croatia revelled in a merited success as they took a giant step towards the final four, where either Spain or the Netherlands will await in June if they can hold their own at the Stade de France.

The form book did not favour the 2018 World Cup runners-up before Thursday's opening tie, which they came into on the back of a three-game winless run in the Nations League, taking just two points from nine versus Portugal, Scotland and Poland in late 2024.

However, the Chequered Ones prolonged their praiseworthy home record in the competition, where they are unbeaten in their last six games in front of their own fans, but a pitiful string of away performances could spell trouble for Dalic's side on Sunday.

Indeed, Croatia failed to win any of their three road games in their 2024-25 Nations League group, and number one goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was not bereft of things to do in the first leg, so the Chequered Ones are likely readying themselves for another Bleus onslaught.

Then again, Croatia's most recent trip to French soil saw Dalic's side prevail 1-0 in the 2022-23 Nations League, where a Luka Modric penalty made the difference, and Sunday's visitors now boast back-to-back wins against Deschamps's side after failing to win any of their first nine encounters.

France possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, T. Hernandez; Camavinga, Tchouameni; Olise, Dembele, Barcola; Mbappe

Croatia possible starting lineup:

Livakovic; Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol; Stanisic, Modric, Kovacic, Sosa; Perisic, Kramaric; Budimir