The finalist of the last FIFA World Cup will face each other in their second group fixture in League-A of UEFA Nations League 2020-2021.
Team Preview
France host Croatia in their second game in Group 3 against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League 2020-21 on Tuesday night. Didier Deschamps's side started the campaign with a 1-0 win over Sweden in Solna, thanks to Kylin Mbappe’s strike in the first half. In Nations League 2019-19, France failed to process in the next round after finishing second in the group. Les Bleus’ main focus is on next summer’s Euro Championships as Deschamps's side won eight of their 10 matches in the qualification process and they are amongst the favourites in Euro Cup next year. France would keen to garb three points at home to boost their chances ahead of the home clash against Portugal next month.
Meanwhile, Croatia had a disappointing start with a huge 4-1 loss to defending champions Portugal on Saturday night. Vatreni was trailing 2 goals behind at first half and Felix netted the 3rd goal in the 70th minute to seal the game for Portugal. In injury time, Petkovic reduced the defeat-margin for Croatia before the final strike from Portugal in the 5th minute of the injury time, courtesy of Andre Silva.
2018 WC Runner-up is facing a huge task to advance into the next round after losing the opening game but they would aim to finish with a decent position in Group 3, with one more game to go with Sweden on October 11. Zlatko Dalic's side finished bottom of League A in 2018-19 edition. In the Euro qualifier, Vatreni finished top of Group E, adding 17 points from their eight matches. Both sides had the most recent H2H history in the 2018 World Cup final, where France knocked out Croatia 4-2 lift the trophy.
Possible lineups & Current Form
France
Lineup: Lloris; Upamecano, Varane, Lenglet; Dubois, Kante, Rabiot, Mendy; Griezmann; Martial, Ben Yedder
Current Form: W W D W W W
Croatia
Lineup: Livakovic; Jedvaj, Lovren, Vida, Barisic; Kovacic, Brozovic; Rebic, Vlasic, Perisic; Kramaric
Current Form: D W D W W L
Key Players
France
Antoine Griezmann
20 goals in all league competitions 2019-20
Anthony Martial
17 goals & 6 assist in Premier League 2019-20
Croatia
Evan Perisic
4 goals & 3 assist in Bundesliga 2019-20
Marcelo Brozovic
3 goals & 6 assist in Serie A 2019-20
