Croatia – Armenia

Armenian team will play the final match of the selection in Zagreb with dignity

Potentially, the upcoming match at the Maksimir in Zagreb could have been a meeting of direct competitors for qualification for UEFA EURO 2024. However, Armenia failed to beat Wales at their home ground last round, thus ending their fight for the top two. In Group D, Turkey secured a trip to Germany before the last round, while Latvia has long been out of contention, having secured a place at the bottom of the standings. There are now two candidates for second place: Croatia and Wales. The Qatar World Cup bronze medallist will finish second if they beat Armenia. If the rivals draw or the Croats lose, then the fate of Dalic's team will depend on the result of the meeting between Wales and Turkey. If Croatia lose points and the Welsh win, it will be the British team that will qualify for Euro 2024. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering a paltry 1.16 odds on their victory. Croatia became the third team in the world and vice-champion of the Nations League last year. The stunning results have somewhat hit the motivation of the players in seemingly less important qualification matters for the upcoming EURO. Until October, the team shared first place in the group with Turkey, but defeats to the aforementioned rival and chasing Wales have severely undermined Dalic's team's position. In Latvia, the Croats are back in the fight, but a 2-0 victory over an outsider cannot be considered convincing. The home team are the favourites for the game, but a defeat is hardly the task they set themselves in the current realities. Having lost to the Turks in the first qualification game, the Armenian team made a big step forward in the subsequent ones. Wales and Latvia were defeated, while Turkey narrowly escaped with a 1-1 win in the 88th minute at home. At the beginning of autumn, the Armenian team had an opportunity to test their strength against Croatia, but lost 0:1 in Yerevan. Petrakov's team suffered their first tangible setback in October, when they lost to a group outsider in Latvia. Armenia's ambitions of qualifying for the Euros finally collapsed in the last round, but that won't stop them from playing honourably in Zagreb.