Due to the expansion of the UEFA Nations League, to now include two-legged quarterfinal ties before the Final Four tournament, runners-up of last season’s UNL edition, Croatia, are still in the running for it this time. They face France in those quarterfinal games, playing the first leg at home. Last Word on Football brings you our Croatia predicted lineup for the match.
Croatia Predicted Lineup vs France
How Croatia Have Lined Up Recently
In the most recent international window in November, coach Zlatko Dalić was forced to go with a very different lineup, than he is likely to rely upon in Thursday’s first leg. That is true both tactically and in terms of personnel. On Matchday 6 of the Nations League group stage against Portugal, they started as follows:
Dominik Livaković was in goal, as Josip Šutalo, Duje Ćaleta-Car, and Joško Gvardiol were the trio in defence. Meanwhile, Ivan Perišić and Borna Sosa played in the wingback roles on either side.
Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić were the central midfield duo, as Andrej Kramarić, Martin Baturina, and Igor Matanović were the front three.
Read More: The Biggest Croatia Football Success Stories and can they win Euro 2024?
As noted above, it will be a quite different formation and lineup this time around. The return of Josip Stanišić, in particular, from a long-term injury will give Dalić the opportunity to play with a back four instead, but more on that later.
Croatia Recent Form and Tactics
Recent form of course isn’t much of an indicator for an international side, that last met four months ago. But for what it’s worth, Croatia’s recent results were not particularly good. The Vatreni only won two of their last six matches. Still, it was enough to finish second in their group by the skin of their teeth, thus qualifying for this quarterfinal stage.
Read More: Five Things We Learnt From the Croatia Euro Exit
Tactically, Dalić is likely to return to his preferred 4-3-3 formation. It is likely the best fit for the players now available to him as well.
Croatia Injuries to Consider
As of this writing, there are no known injuries to the players in the current squad.
Croatia Predicted Lineup vs France
Livaković, Stanišić, Šutalo, Pongračić, Gvardiol, Kovačić, Modrić, Pašalić, Kramarić, Budimir, Perišić.
