Croatia – France

France are superior to Croatia in every way, despite the away game

Croatia will play France in the second matchday of the Nations League. Both teams suffered sensational defeats in their opening matches. Croatia lost heavily to Austria, while the French fell to Denmark. The reigning world champions played without their head coach Didier Deschamps. The specialist was absent for a valid reason. The coach's father died. This also had an impact on the final result. At the same time, we can't say that France failed in the match against Denmark. The home side played some entertaining attacking football. They considerably outclassed their opponents on goalscoring chances. Denmark converted two of their three chances. Plus Cornelius' winning shot was perfect. France had more goalscoring opportunities. Importantly, the home team took a chance and played to win. Unfortunately, the game with Denmark was marked by two injuries to the leading players. Most likely, in Croatia, the French team will not be able to count on Mbappe and Varane. Both players were unable to finish the game. Croatia, on the other hand, lost to Austria for good measure. The Checkered Ones had only ball control, but no sharp moves were made. Modric's absence had an impact. Reserve goalkeeper Ivošić didn't have his best game. Croatia had an experimental line-up. Livakovic, the starting goalkeeper, will be fielded against France. Luka Modric is expected to start. That said, Croatia's display problems were already evident in World Cup qualifying. The team have had great difficulty in beating mediocre opponents. In the last group stage of the Nations League, Croatia narrowly escaped in the last meeting. There were also two matches against France, in which the Draughtsmen's then optimal defence conceded six goals. The bookmakers give odds above 2.00 on a French victory. Many factors speak for the visitors. As world champions, the team cannot afford two defeats in a row. France's squad is stronger in every position. The losses of Varane and Mbappe are a nuisance, but the depth allows Deschamps to replace players with ease. The same Nkunkou is having an outstanding season. Benzema is still scoring in almost every game. Croatia's only hope is Modric, but Luka cannot beat such an opponent alone. Croatia are still judged on their status as vice world champions, but in four years, the national team has regressed very badly. So far, Croatia look like group outsiders.