France will take on Croatia in the second leg of the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League quarter-finals at the Stade de France. The match is scheduled to take place on Monday 24 March 2025 at 01:15 am IST. France face a huge challenge in their bid to reach the semi-finals after suffering a 2-0 defeat in Croatia in the first leg. Kylian Mbappe and his teammates looked helpless against their opponents.
Although goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved Andrej Kramaric’s early penalty, Les Bleus had to face a bitter reality. Ante Budimir opened the scoring for Croatia in the 26th minute after being set up by Ivan Perisic, who then scored the second. France had their chances, but four efforts from Mbappe and two from Ousmane Dembele were saved by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
France controlled the ball 62% to 38% of the time and had the edge in shots (16-8) and shots on target (6-4). But it was Luka Modric and his team who came out on top. At the Parc des Princes later today, France will need to turn the tables and score at least two goals to progress to the semi-finals. That will be no easy task, given that France have won just three of their last eight UEFA Nations League home games.
They have also never won a home game in the competition by more than two goals. Croatia, on the other hand, have failed to win in their last three UEFA Nations League away matches, losing 2-1 to Portugal, drawing 3-3 with Poland and losing 1-0 to Scotland. A draw or a narrow defeat would be enough for Croatia to eliminate France and advance to the semi-finals.
Possible Starting XI
France (4-3-1-2) : Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Digne; Rabiot, Guendouzi, Tchouameni; Dembele; Mbappe, Muani.
Coach: Didier Deschamps.
Croatia (4-2-3-1): Livakovic; Stanisic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol; Modric, Kovacic; Perisic, Baturina, Kramaric; Budimir.
Coach: Zlatko Dalic.
Head to head and Score Prediction
Last 5 Meetings
03/21/25 Croatia 2-0 France (UEFA Nations League)
06/14/22 France 0-1 Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
07/06/22 Croatia 1-1 France (UEFA Nations League)
10/15/20 Croatia 1-2 France (UEFA Nations League)
09/09/20 France 4-2 Croatia (UEFA Nations League).
Last 5 Matches of France (L W D W W)
11/10/24 Israel 1-4 France (UEFA Nations League)
15/10/24 Belgium 1-2 France (UEFA Nations League)
11/15/24 France 0-0 Israel (UEFA Nations League)
11/18/24 Italy 1-3 France (UEFA Nations League)
21/03/25 Croatia 2-0 France (UEFA Nations League).
Last 5 Matches of Croatia (W D L D W)
12/10/24 Croatia 2-1 Scotland (UEFA Nations League)
16/10/24 Poland 3-3 Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
16/11/24 Scotland 1-0 Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
11/19/24 Croatia 1-1 Portugal (UEFA Nations League)
21/03/25 Croatia 2-0 France (UEFA Nations League).
Score Prediction : France 2-1 Croatia.
UEFA Nations League 2024/2025 Quarter Finals Schedule
Leg 1 – Friday, March 21, 2025
01:15 am IST – Netherlands 2-2 Spain
01:15 am IST – Croatia 2-0 France
01:15 am IST – Denmark 1-0 Portugal
01:15 am IST – Italy 1-2 Germany
Leg 2 – Monday, March 24, 2025
01:15 am IST – Spain vs Netherlands
01:15 am IST – France vs Croatia
01:15 am IST – Portugal vs Denmark
01:15 am IST – Germany vs Italy
