Croatia vs France Prediction and Betting Tips | March 20th 2025
Croatia will welcome France to Stadion Poljud in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals on Thursday. The hosts finished second behind Portugal in Group A1 while Les Bleus were the Group A2 winners.
Kockasti concluded their league phase on a three-game winless run, playing out two draws. They met Portugal in their previous Nations League outing and played out a 1-1 home draw, with Joško Gvardiol equalizing in the second half.
The visitors are unbeaten in their last five games in the competition and overcame Italy 3-1 away from home last time around. Adrien Rabiot bagged a brace while they were helped through an own goal in the first half.
Kockasti finished as the runners-up in the previous edition, losing out to Spain on penalties, and will look to go all the way this time. The visitors won the competition in 2021 and failed to make it past the league phase in the previous edition.
Croatia vs France Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two teams have crossed paths 10 times in all competitions. Les Bleus have been the dominant side in these meetings, recording six wins. The hosts have registered just one win and three games have ended in draws.
- They last met in the league phase of the 2022-23 edition of the Nations League and Kockasti recorded a 1-0 away win.
- France have won their last three away games in the Nations League, scoring nine goals. Interestingly, they have conceded one goal apiece in these wins.
- Croatia are unbeaten in their last five home games in the Nations League, recording three wins. They have conceded one goal apiece in four games in that period.
- The visitors have failed to score in two of their eight games in this fixture. Kockasti, meanwhile, have failed to score in three.
Croatia vs France Prediction
Vatreni have been in poor touch recently, winning just two of their last nine games across all competitions, though both wins were registered at home. After defeats in their first two Nations League meetings against France, the 2022-23 runners-up are unbeaten in their last two games, scoring one goal apiece.
Luka Sučić is nursing a knee injury and will miss both the first and second legs. Franjo Ivanović has been handed his first senior call-up and is in contention to start here. Regular starters like Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Dominik Livaković, Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, and Ante Budimir are also included in the squad.
Les Bleus have won four of their last five games, with three wins registered in their travels. They have lost just one of their last 11 away games in the Nations League and will look to build on that form.
Marcus Thuram has been ruled out of the quarterfinals with an ankle injury. Didier Deschamps welcomes back Kylian Mbappé to the national fold after roughly six months and the Real Madrid striker is expected to lead the lineup here.
While the visitors head into the match in great form, Croatia have a good home record in the Nations League and should be able to hold out for a draw.
Prediction: Croatia 1-1 France
Croatia vs France Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Draw
Tip 2: Goals - Over/Under 2.5 Goals - Under 2.5 goals
Tip 3: Both teams to score - Yes
Tip 4: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes
