France vs Croatia Preview

Nations League (UNL) holders France will play their fourth group game of the 2022 edition of the Nations League when they welcome Croatia to the Stade de France on Monday.

The hosts have begun the defence of their title poorly having failed to win any of their opening games so far (D2, L1). They needed an 83rd-minute equaliser to salvage a point against Austria (1-1) last time out in a result that kept them rooted to the bottom of the Group A1 standings.

They come into this tie four points behind leaders Denmark and are in real danger of relegation.

But given their record against Croatia, they will be confident of getting a win in this game as they have never lost a head-to-head (W6, D3). However, a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture suggests a lack of a clinical edge in the final third.

Croatia will look to make it two wins in a row when they travel to Paris on Monday. The visitors won their first game of this UNL campaign when they beat Denmark 1-0 last time out taking their points tally for the season to four points.

They are two points behind the Danes who sit on top of the group and can keep their quest for a top-of-the-table finish alive if they get an unlikely win in this game. Considering that they avoided relegation in the last UNL campaign by mere goal difference, the Croats will be desperate to win this game and steer clear of the bottom of the table.

They will also be eager to avenge their embarrassing loss to France in the 2018 World Cup final. But given that they have traditionally struggled in this tournament, with the latest result just their third win across 13 UNL games (D2, L8), they cannot be expected to pull off a win in this game.