To the surprise of many, these two heavyweights of European football sit at the bottom of Group A1 with just three matches to go.
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Matchday four of the UEFA Nations League will witness a blockbuster clash between the finalists of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, France and Croatia. To the surprise of many these two heavyweights of European football sit at the bottom of Group A1 with just three matches to go. Croatia recorded their first victory on Saturday against Denmark while France are yet to register a single win. The two nations met each other last week in a keenly contested match which ended in a 1-1 draw. This fixture will be of serious importance to both as they look to qualify for the Nations League finals next year.
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Coming into the Nations League matches in June on the back off a superb run where they played free flowing attacking football, France just haven’t been able to carry on that momentum into the Nations League. The World champions look lost for ideas on the pitch which is a shock considering the quality of players they have. They began their Nations League campaign with a superb goal from Karim Benzema but soon conceded the lead and the victory to Denmark. Since then, two frustrating 1-1 draws against Croatia and Austria have followed. Didier Deschamps will be keen for his side to respond well in their home country and get their campaign back on track.
The 2018 World Cup runners-up will go into the fixture on the back of 1-0 win over Denmark on matchday three. Croatia surprisingly suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Austria to begin their Nations League run. However, they have responded strongly since with four points from the next two games. This puts them level with Austria on points in the table and behind only on goal difference. So often dependent on their midfield-trio of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic to carry them through tough situations, Croatia will certainly fancy their chances to upset France once again and widen the gap between the two countries even more.
Kylian Mbappe came off the bench against Austria to salvage a draw for France and should be fit enough for 90 minutes against Croatia. N’Golo Kante has already left the French camp due to injury while Lucas Hernandez too is unavailable due to personal reasons. As for Croatia, the big positives are the return of Ivan Perisic and Sime Vrsaljko who have both recovered from their respective injuries while Josko Gvardiol is ruled out due to lack of fitness.
N’Golo Kanté (genou) et Lucas Hernandez (heureux évènement) quittent le rassemblement #FiersdetreBleus
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 11, 2022
➝ https://t.co/7WeQKWyVBx pic.twitter.com/LuNF38ljcH
France possible line-up: Lloris, Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Clauss, Coman, Griezmann, Mbappe, Benzema
Croatia possible line-up: Livakovic, Stanisic, Vida, Caleta-Car, Juranovic, Modric, Kovacic, Vlasic, Pasalic, Orsic, Kramaric
The UEFA Nations League match between France vs Croatia will take place at the Stade de France on Tuesday at 12:15 am IST.
Select UEFA Nations League 2022-23 matches will be telecast live on the Sony TEN network in India. Besides, live streaming of these matches will be available on SonyLIV and JioTV apps and OTT platforms in India.
