Croatia vs France predictions: Les Bleus to prosper in Split
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- France finished top of Group A2 after collecting 13 points from six games
- Croatia finished second in Group A1 on eight points
- Recommended bet: France to win to nil
Croatia will look to roll back the years when they host France in Split in the first leg of their quarter-final tie in the Nations League.
Zlatko Dalic's troops have struggled to pick up results in recent months, but with their fans behind them, they will look to make life difficult for their visitors.
France did suffer back-to-back losses with their Euro 2024 semi-final defeat to Spain followed by an opening Nations League setback to Italy, but have since won four of their next five games, drawing the other, which includes a revenge win over the Azzurri as well as home and away successes over Belgium.
Team news
Dalic will be unable to call upon the services of midfield pair Igor Matanovic and Luka Sucic due to injury.
Franjo Ivanovic has been handed his first senior call-up and will be desperate to impress, although Dalic still has plenty of experience to call upon with the likes of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic.
France forward Marcus Thuram misses out due to an ankle problem, but Eduardo Camavinga returns from suspension and is available to start.
The stats
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Croatia are winless in their last three matches in the Nations League, but they are unbeaten at home in the competition.
Dalic's troops won two of their six games in the group stages, scoring eight goals in the process, as they finished second to Portugal in Group A1.
France were more prolific in front of goal, netting 12 times as they topped Group A2 with four wins, one draw and one defeat.
Didier Deschamps' side beat Italy 3-1 in their last Nations League game, and four of their six matches produced at least three goals.
Prediction
Croatia used to be considered one of the dark horses of European football, but they have struggled in recent months.
Vatreni failed to progress out of their group at Euro 2024 and a recent 3-3 draw with Poland and a 1-0 defeat to Scotland suggests not all is well within Croatia's camp.
The hosts' best players are now approaching the end of their careers whereas France have some of the best young talent in Europe.
Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola are all expected to push for a starting spot on Thursday and they have the ability to put Croatia under plenty of pressure.
Les Bleus have scored two or more goals in four of their last five matches, and three of those successes came on the road. Dalic's team will do what they can to slow the visitors down, but they are unlikely to trouble the scoresheet this time around in what should be a first-leg defeat.
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