France vs Croatia: Tips, Odds, and Match Preview

France made a mess of the first quarter-final leg in Split, and they now face an uphill task following the 2-0 defeat at Stadion Poljud in Split.

Croatia, on the other hand, are on cloud nine after an emphatic first leg victory, but Vatreni know they cannot afford to relax just yet as they face star-studded Les Bleus side at Stade de France.

Wasteful France

Feeling the disappointment of the Euro 2024 semi-final loss to Spain, France kicked off the Nations League campaign with a 3-1 home loss to Spain, but Didier Deschamps’ side went on to show massive improvement later on.

Les Bleus won four of next five games to finish top of Group 2 ahead of Italy, eventually setting up a quarter-final clash with Croatia.

Going into the match with a lot of confidence, France dominated the encounter from start to finish, but wasteful finishing combined with some defensive errors saw them succumb to a 2-0 defeat.

As a result, Les Bleus will be looking for an early goal at Stade de France in an attempt to keep the tie alive and they can be backed at 1.97 with BC Game to win the first half.

France Injury & Suspension News

Ibrahima Konate is likely to make way for Dayot Upamecano after a poor first-half performance in Split, with Bradley Barcola, Eduardo Camavinga and Michael Olise also pushing for a start. Marcus Thuram is out of contention with an ankle injury.

Ruthless Croatia

Over the last couple of decades, Croatia emerged as one of European heavyweights, but a group stage exit at Euro 2024 threatened to mark the end of a very successful spell.

With Ivan Rakitic and Marcelo Brozovic both retiring and doubts hanging over Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic, Vatreni boss Zlatko Dalic had his work cut out for him at the start of the new Nations League campaign.

Croatia indeed failed to impress, amassing just 8 points from 6 group games, but that proved just enough for a second-place finish and a place in the quarter-finals.

Vatreni were seen as major underdogs in the France clash but their gameplan worked like a charm, punishing wasteful Les Bleus with two first-half goals and even missing an early penalty in the process.

Croatia Injury & Suspension News

Lovro Majer, Luka Sucic, and Bruno Petkovic missed the high-profile double-header through injury, but with no fresh injury worries, Zlatko Dalic is expected to name an unchanged side.

France vs Croatia Prediction

France were quite unfortunate in the first leg and while it will not be easy to overcome a two-goal deficit, I do expect in-form Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele to make life difficult for Croatia defenders.

With a couple of changes to the starting line-up and more positive approach, I am backing Les Bleus to emerge victorious while odds of 2.20 for France to win by two or more are quite tempting.

CryptoGamba tip: Home win – 1.44 @Stake