We have a Croatia v France prediction for you plus a breakdown of the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of their Nations League Quarter-Final first leg.
Croatia finished second in their Nations League Group 2 behind Portugal but ahead of Scotland and Poland.
France topped their Nations League group going unbeaten to finish ahead of Italy by a goal difference of +1 as well as Belgium and Israel.
How To Watch Croatia v France
When is Croatia v France?
Croatia v France is on Thursday at 7.45 pm.
TV Channel
Virgin Media 2
Where is Croatia v France Being Played?
Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia
Croatia v France Odds – Nations League
Team | Odds | Chance |
|---|---|---|
Croatia | 11/4 | 26.7% |
France | 20/21 | 51.2% |
Draw | 11/5 | 31.3% |
Croatia are priced at 11/4 to win this game.
Croatia to win – 11/4
France are priced up at 20/21 and the draw is an 11/5 shot.
France to win – 20/21
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Handicap Betting
Croatia: +1 @ 3/4
France: -1 @ 3/1
Handicap Draw: +1 @ 11/4
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Croatia v France Preview
Croatia’s Form
Zlatko Dalić has been in charge of Croatia since 2017 and is widely regarded as the greatest coach in the history of their team due to his performances at multiple World Cups, including a runner-up and a third-place finish. His overall record is 45 wins from 93 games for a 48.39% win rate along with 25 draws and 23 defeats.
Croatia despite its modest population size of roughly 3.8 million have consistently produced “Top-Class” and even on occasion “World Class” footballers. Although the likes of Modric (38) and Perisic (36) are getting on there is a generation of footballers coming through too with the likes of Gvardiol (23) and Šutalo (25)
Their form seems to be on a downturn with only 4 wins from their 11 matches in 2024, a robust defensive effort will be required to stop the French from putting multiple goals past them.
Croatia’s Last Five Results
Croatia 1-1 Portugal | November 18th | Draw
Scotland 1-0 Croatia | November 15th | Loss
Poland 3-3 Croatia | October 15th | Draw
Croatia 2-1 Scotland | October 12th | Win
Croatia 1-0 Poland | September 8th | Win
2 Wins, 2 Draws and 1 Loss
France’s Form
Didier Deschamps has been in charge of France since he was first appointed on the 8th of July 2012 and has brought them to a 2018 World Cup title, a runner-up finish in the 2022 tournament, a Nations League success in 20/21 and a Euro Championship runner-up at Euro 2016. However, he has garnered criticism during Euro 2024 for his negative tactical approach.
France for several seasons has had inarguably one of the strongest squads in International Football boosting names even outside of the squad who would be mainstays for pretty much every other country. The production line seems to be never-ending though with Zaire-Emery (19) and Désire Doué both called up to their latest with eight players under the age of 23.
After some mixed success in 2024, their form has improved recently with four wins in a draw in their last five games scoring 11 goals and conceding none.
France’s Last Five Results
Italy 1-3 France | November 17th | Win
France 0-0 Israel | November 14th | Draw
Belgium 1-2 France | October 14th | Win
Israel 1-4 France | October 10th | Win
France 2-0 Belgium | September 9th | Win
4 Wins and 1 Draw
Croatia v France Predicted Lineups
Croatia Predicted Starting XI (4-2-3-1)
GK: Livakovic
RB: Juranovic, CB: Sutalo, CB: Caleta-Car, LB: Gvardiol
CM: Modric, CM: Kovacic
RW: Baturina, AM: Pasilic, LW: Perisic
CF: Kramaric
France Predicted Starting XI (4-2-3-1)
GK: Maignan
RB: Koundé, CB: Konaté, CB: Saliba, LB: Hernandez
CM: Rabiot, CM: Tchouameni
RW: Dembele, AM: Olise, LW: Mbappé
CF: Kolo-Muani
Croatia v France Head-To-Head Results & Stats
All-Time Head-To-Head Record
Croatia wins: 1
France wins: 6
Draws: 3
Head-To-Head Results
France 0-1 Croatia | Nations League | June 13th, 2022
Croatia 1-1 France | Nations League | June 6th, 2022
Croatia 1-2 France | Nations League | October 14th, 2020
France 4-2 Croatia | Nations League | September 8th, 2020
France 4-2 Croatia | World Cup | July 15th, 2018
Key Players To Watch
Ivan Perisic – Croatia
A Croatian legend at 36 years old we’ve gone beyond the twilight of his career but his importance to Croatia can’t be dismissed, being capped a staggering 140 times since 2011 and having scored 33 times and still featured 11 times in 2024 for his country. This season for PSV he’s performing brilliantly with 9 goals and 9 assists from 32 matches.
He is 14/1 to score first and 13/2 to score at any point.
Perisic Anytime Goal – 13/2
Kylian Mbappe – France
It takes a lot to stand far and above every man in what is a world-class squad but Kylian Mbappé is precisely that good having already scored 48 goals across his 86 matches for France and at 26 that record should continue for years to come.
The lightning-quick, World Class finisher for Real Madrid this season has 30 goals and 4 assists in 43 matches. He is priced at 4/1 to score first in this game and can be gotten at odds of 6/4 to score at any time.
Mbappé First Goalscorer – 4/1
Croatia v France Prediction & Best Bet
Prediction: Croatia 1-3 France
Croatia have some good players but may need to hold more of the ball than they’re likely to get with France very likely to have far greater fitness, speed and power.
France could arguably be far better going forward given the talent at their disposal but recent games suggest that they’ve improved in that end.
The French at 20/21 is a very good bet.
Best Bet: France @ 20/21
France to win – 20/21
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*Prices are subject to fluctuation.
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