We have some exciting 2024 European Championship qualifiers this weekend, including the meeting between Croatia and Wales.
The match will take place on the 25th of March at Stadion Poljud and the hosts are the favourites to top Group D, with Wales hoping to progress to Euro 2024 in second place.
Waiting for Saturday... ⌚️#EURO2024 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/JloSBmtzN2— HNS (@HNS_CFF) March 21, 2023
Waiting for Saturday... ⌚️#EURO2024 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/JloSBmtzN2
Croatia come into the game having previously played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Croatia enjoyed a fantastic tournament and went all the way to the semi-final, where they lost 3-0 to eventual winners, Argentina.
Croatia won their final match of the tournament, beating Morocco 2-1 to finish in the third place, which was a great achievement.
Despite reaching the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup, Croatia have won only 1 of their 5 most recent fixtures inside 90 minutes.
They were held to a draw by Belgium, Japan, and Brazil, with the games against the Japanese and Brazilians being determined by a penalty shootout. However, Croatia are tough to beat and they are undefeated in 12 of their last 13 matches in all competitions, including friendly games.
Trends show Croatia have achieved 5 straight home wins in European Championship qualifiers. In fact, they are in a period of 21 straight home games without a defeat in European Championship qualifying matches.
Croatia have conceded only 5 goals in their 11 most recent home European Championship qualifiers and conceded no more than 1 goal in any of those 11 games.
Wales travel to Stadion Poljud on the back of a disappointing 2022 World Cup campaign. Having picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with the United States in their opening fixture, the Welsh did not perform in their second match against Iran and fell apart in the final moments to lose 2-0.
Their most recent match came against England in the World Cup and Wales lost 3-0, a result which saw them finish bottom of the group.
Wales have failed to win any of their 8 most recent fixtures in all competitions. You must go back to the World Cup playoff final against Ukraine to find the last time Wales won a match and the game ended 1-0 in Cardiff.
Wales have a good recent record in European Championship qualifying and are undefeated in their last 5 matches. However, the Welsh have won only 1 of their last 5 away Euro qualifiers on the road.
Team news and Croatia can call upon Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, in addition to Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic, and Mario Pasalic in midfield.
Exciting young defender Josko Gvardiol will play in central defence.
Wales have lost some key players to retirement, including Gareth Bale and Joe Allen plus defender Ben Davies to injury. Aaron Ramsey will captain the team in midfield and Brennan Johnson will provide the threat in attack.
Wales will be aiming to keep things tight and hit Croatia on the counter-attack. That could make the Welsh difficult to breakdown but Croatia have the quality to create chances and should win this game, keeping a clean sheet in the process.