Croatia vs France

Stadion Poljud is the venue as familiar foes Croatia and France go head-to-head in the first leg of their handsomely-looking UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie.

Croatia finished their topsy-turvy Group A1 campaign on a sorrowful note, going winless across their last three Nations League matches (D2, L1) to finish second behind Portugal in their section. Despite failing to win both fixtures in November’s international break, Zlatko Dalic’s men can draw confidence from avoiding defeat across their last four home outings (W3, D1). The Blazers got the better of France in their most recent meeting in June 2022 to snap a dreadful nine-game winless H2H run beforehand (D3, L6). Replicating that result here would bring Croatia closer to reaching back-to-back Nations League after being beaten by Spain in the last edition’s grand final on penalties.

Meanwhile, France locked down a top-place finish in a highly competitive Group A1, courtesy of a dominant 3-1 away win against runners-up Italy, extending their unbeaten Nations League streak to five matches (W4, D1). Interestingly, their last three wins in that sequence came on the road and saw Les Bleus find the opening goal in the first half, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. Didier Deschamps could become the first manager to win two Nations League titles after beating Croatia 6-3 on aggregate en route to the 2020/21 triumph. However, the visitors are without a clean sheet across their last eight Nations League games on hostile turf.