Croatia and Czechia play out a boring 0-0 draw in Prague during World Cup qualifying. The Vatreni remain top of group with superior goal differential plus a game in hand.
-Perišić had a tough game, skying 2 shots over the crossbar
-Marco Pašalić played 30 minutes and had a fantastic shot and cross into the box
-Croatia played passive from the opening whistle and let Czechia come to them. Dalić will be happy with the result.
Next game: Sunday vs. Gibraltar in Varaždin
FT: 0-0 Final. We should have scored a goal but this is great road result in what was scheduled as our toughest game.
80′: Marco Pašalić with a strong shot from the cusp of the box. Keeper makes the save but that is what we need! If he shoots 2 yards to the right it’s a goal.
75′: Marco Pašalić with a great cross to Perišić in the box but the PSV man heads it straight to the keeper.
62′: SUBS! Ivanović comes in for Budimir. Marco Pašalić comes in for Mario Pašalić. Finally! Please God score a goal to prove CroatianSports right!
HT: 0-0 at halftime. Absolutely snooze fest. Czechia has been the better team and Croatia is letting them come into the attacking third. Perišić should have done much, much better with both shots in the box. Not sure if Budimir has even touched the ball yet. Croatia have yet to register a shot on goal yet.
37′: Jakić with a wonderful run into the box! He lays it off to Perišić who skies the ball well over the cross bar AGAIN! He scores that 4/10 times.
32′: Modrić feeds Perišić in the middle of a busy box but Perišić skies the ball into the 25th row. Could have done better if it was on frame.
30′: Nothing from Croatia offensively. Livaković sees the ball well to parry away a Czech free kick from 20 yards out. The ball bounces in the box of Gvardiol’s arm following a deflection. Czechia argues for a penalty but you can’t give it in that situation.
10′: Czechia on the front foot and pressing forward early in the match. Remember, a draw really doesn’t help them much as Croatia have a game in hand.
The Vatreni take the field Thursday night in Prague in what was always going to be their toughest World Cup qualifier this campaign. A win and Croatia will have one foot qualified for the 2026 World Cup next summer in North America. A draw would not be the end of the world by any means with three matches left again Gibraltar, Faroe Islands and Montenegro. A loss vs.Czechia would make things interesting in Group L as Czechia would then own a 3-point advantage (however, Croatia have a game in hadn’t and far superior goal differential.)
Albania @ Serbia today 2:45pm
It can’t be as calm as the June match, can it ?
btw: FootballMeetsData has Serbia currently in Pot 4 (making via PO)
Serbia 0 v Albania 1
I was changing channels and watching a bit of all the matches and had a feeling that Albania might win this match. Serbia is in big trouble and may need to beat England away to make the play offs?
Both Albania and Serbia play Andorra away and however unlike Serbia, Albania play England at home.
I think that Piksi will get the sack, fans in Leskovac were chanting during the match and at end Piksi Odlazi.
Very impressive Turkey thrashing a poor Bulgaria 6 -1 away.
Peretz hasn’t played a minute for HSV (back-up to Fernandes), on loan from Bayern
Yet still starts again in net for Israel today
The starting NT keeper not playing for club, is not an uncommon thing
Ukraine U-21 starting front 3 last game vs. Hungary 3-3
CF Stepanov (bench player for 2nd division Nürnberg)
LW Tuterov (playing for Sunderland U-21s – can’t even find a Championship team that wants to take him on loan)
RW Slesar (playing for Zorya Lugansk 9th in Ukraine league table)
Olic needs Prpic AND Vuskovic to defend the above ? LMAO
Embarrassing
Though ironically, the Ukraine U-21 front-3 might actually be stronger than the Gibraltar front-3 who all play 5th tier football and below (but that’s not the point)
The Vuskovic news is true (HNS website)
The BBB and Torcida should do something useful/productive for once in their lives and roll up to Varazdin with “#FREE VUSKOVIC FROM U21” banners
Anonymous doesn’t feel like looking again – but when Anonymous checked the Gibraltar players all play in tier 5-7 football (or something like that)
It’s so dumb
I hope history doesnt repeat its self and wc 2026 turns to wc 2002 japan korea old team with some young olayers but on the pitch it looks like disaster.
I dont know all i know is dalic lives and dies by the vets and is stubborn like a tovar.
Livakovic Stanisic Sutalo CC Gvardiol Modric Sucic Kovacic Perosic Krama Budimir cannot be the 11 next year its just like euro 2024 all over again fail for me.
Gotta hope some players step up in the season and Dalic trys out wingers and cfs.
Backline is fine no playmaker in the 4 3 3 and no wings a true cf.
i wish he tryed 3 5 2 or 4 4 2 formation
Backline is set imo livi stanisic Cc sutalo gvardiol are a given same with sucic modric kovacic and Perišić krama are given leads to 2 spots.
Dalic from 2018 was such a better coach because he had the players.
Maybe new blood is needed Valincic rb lisica as winger stoticek i dont know maybe give beljo another call he is cf and fox in the box.
This conservative lineup is a mess imo
Nah. WC2002 was a talent issue. We simply didn’t have new talent coming in after the ’98 generation due to the war.
The more likely scenario is Euro2024…where we have actual talent, but we choose to start those with “seniority” regardless of position on the field.
The lineup for WC2026 will be:
Livakovic – Stanisic/Gvardiol/Sutalo/Jakic – Kovacic/Sucic/Modric – Perisic/Budimir/Kramaric
…with Mario Pasalic always being one of the first off the bench, regardless of position.
We’re going to struggle with speed and creating width for our midfielders, not because we don’t have the players…but because they don’t have seniority.
BIG BIG NEWS
@Truth’s Analiticar has been revealed and he’s a Scotsman Mark Rochon !
See 1:09 of Dalic’s video tribute – this is the guy who keeps feeding Truth his numbers/data (that Anonymous often has to correct and point out flaws) as well as Dalic the scouting of opponents and how Croatia should line-up (and which Croatians are doing good in training and should be picked ahead of others for the game)
x.com/HNS_CFF/status/1976922619438895122
Crazy none of us have ever even heard of this guy before
***.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64306575
@4:33
Mark Rochon says “We’ve had Champions League finals” (!)
Once again Anonymous has to correct @Truth’s Analiticar work
No @Truth – Croatia hasn’t been in a Championship League final LMAO – please let Mark Rochon know – he must be confused – but given this demonstrates his poor attention to detail this of course explains why his #s/data are often wrong – please look to find someone better (and preferably a Croatian) – thx
🤣🤣🤣
As mentioned before, Belgium is really hard to catch in fifa ranking points. They should still be about 20 points ahead. A loss to wales probably generates like -12 to -14 points for them but theyd still be ahead. Croatia can maybe add like 6 points to its total from winning it here so would be tough
I guess it’s moreso about increasing Belgium’s chances to drop to second.
If Belgium draw or lose away to Wales, then they remain in second place and likely finish behind one of Wales or Macedonia (and have to qualify via playoff).
Mark Rochon should inform you that if Belgium don’t finish 1st in their group (currently 33% chance) than they go to PO (all PO teams that qualify get slotted into Pot 4, hence they’d fall out of Pot 1, and all teams below them would move up)
Honestly, the playoff round is scary (12 teams vying for only 3 playoff spots)…
I don’t even think Belgium qualifies if they drop to second.
Most playoff teams are a lot harder than Wales and Macedonia. Gotta beat two teams in the playoffs to qualify.
Agree is totally scary
But it’s even worse
16 teams (12 runner-ups + 4 best Nations League group winners) going for 4 spots
Footballmeetsdata currently has Italy, Turkey, Serbia (!), and Ukraine making it
But that assumes Germany and Belgium don’t finish 2nd in their groups…
It’s maybe harder to qualify via PO than it is qualifying from a group (can’t remember that ever being the case) ?
Crazy stuff
“HNS confirms that Luka Vušković has been moved from the senior squad to Ivica Olić’s U21 team ahead of the crucial U21 EURO 2027 qualifier vs. Ukraine.
He won’t be able to play vs. Gibraltar.”
Dalic in his interview on NOVA TV before the Czechia match hinted that this was going to happen. He will partner Prpic as our two CB’s.
Pongracic and Elric most likely will start against Gibraltar as the two CB’s.
A Vušković and Prpić pairing is what I would like to have seen with the senior squad against Gibraltar.
Not this Duje/Pongračić garbage.
This is pretty dumb, he is already on the senior squad what does Vusković gain from this?
HNS prioritizing U21 results over Senior team development is the tail wagging the dog. This madness needs to stop.
It’s admirable that the HNS is trying whatever they can to help out the incompetent Olić
#family
Source???
It’s not on X/Twitter
Croatia group is so bad that we might as well play in the African division against Swazie land, Congo mongo and Southwestern Josie town – that’s equivalent with Gibraltor, Montenegro and Fairy Tale Island- Bloody, pair down these countries to anyone who can afford shoes. It’s really out of hand.
Makedonci just did us a big favor.
How many points does Belgium lose for this home draw?
Belgium is putting themselves in trouble if they don’t win away at Wales on Monday.
Hopefully Wales takes them down. Belgium always has trouble with them.
Watched the last 30 minutes of the match and Belgium just could not score. They missed so many chances or should I say the Macedonian goalkeeper made some incredible saves.
The Belgium’s looked physically exhausted and in disbelief after the match. Tough match against Wales coming up.
If Belgium doesn’t win against Wales on Monday, there’s a solid chance they don’t finish first in the group.
Similar to Italy, it wouldn’t matter what their FIFA ranking is. They would get dumped into Pot 4 (assuming they even make the World Cup since the playoffs are now looking scary).
Belgium lost 7.3 points, now 1732 points
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1976761950932447353
However, there is now a 33% chance Belgium doesn’t win their group (if they don’t win their group and go to PO, all successful PO teams end up in Pot 4, which means another spot opens up in Pot 1)
x.com/fmeetsdata/status/1976757496665850231
Folks mocking Sweden for not even being able to get one past Switzerland at home with EUR200m of strikers up front (Gyokeres and Isak) lol – EUR65m Elanga couldn’t even get in the pitch – Bergvall pulling the strings in midfield (and he’s really strong for T) – point being, maybe we’re too harsh/expecting too much from Mr. Big Ears (Budimir) – they are missing Kulusevski who was incredible last season for T (so the excuse is he’s missing so nothing can work)
Here’s one of Isak missing a tap-in – if this was Budimir (or any Croatian player) we’d all be saying they shouldn’t ever play for the NT again (this is what happens when we’ve been so successful for so long, our expectations are sky-high, and probably unrealistic at times (Anonymous-self included))
x.com/mancityhardcore/status/1976754055083872693
Here’s a Bergvall miss
Imagine Baturina did this?
x.com/senseikyuzo/status/1976732578074837172?s=46
Hmm. There are still 23 points that separates us and Belgium.
Does anyone know how many points we get from beating Gibraltar, Faroe, and Montenegro?
Probably about 10 points is my guess.
We still have to hope Wales (at least) draws Belgium, and even then I don’t think it’s enough to make up 23 points.
Guess we just have to hope that Macedonia or Wales tops the group.
Belgium just tied at home vs the Macedonians…good news for us in terms of coefficient points…
Dalic has to put a limit on the amount of +34yr old players on the field at the same time. Only two +34yr old should be on the field at the same time. Isn’t there a Cro Seniors team these guys can play on somewhere?
We played a lot better when Buda, Krama & Pasilic were sent sent off. At least Dalic somewhat knows what he is doing. Feel bad for Pasilic being forced to play on the right wing…make’s him look like a terrible player when he is out there and takes alot of hate for his performance.
⬆️ spot on
We are about the win this group. We are we still a feared team. These ‘older’ players have played well. I am glad Mr Dalic is the coach. Show some gratitude for what he has accomplished in 100 games now. Viva Zlatko!
I’m pretty sure this is Dalić’s wife’s burner account
Easy for you to say that behind your keyboard. Mr Dalic has had to face many tough games- and succeeded. Once he leaves, we will then appreciate the work he has done Croatia. Viva Zlatko!
Man what’s your problem with mister Dalic aren’t y’all proud of his accomplishments man
We have the easiest group in the history of football. How are we feared for topping this group? Czechia are ranked #39 in the world and should probably be ranked higher then that. Other then the striker who was injured can you name another player on the team?
If anything we will be laughing stock of the WC if end up playing Modric, Krama, Buda & Perisic on the field at the same time.
Let’s bring Luka Sucic out of the doghouse, the point has been made already.
We would have won yesterday with him in the starting lineup.
I am glad we have so many experts on this site to keep us informed on Croatia soccer. Coach Dalic must be winning because he listens to all of you geniuses out there.
He’s slammed wedding planning Erlic’s wedding the day b4 the World Cup opens in 2026
So no he doesn’t have time for the NT
Got to respect the grind and his diversified income streams
Broz trolling Dalic and the NT after the draw w Gram post of screenshot of his ranking on Call of Duty w caption “Im Beast!”
Nasty trolling nasty nasty trolling
Agreed with many of the group’s comments.
It would have been greatly desired that we won yesterday. We could have the freedom to experiment to concur the best line up. We can’t go to all in with a super slow veteran line up. Perisic should be paired with Marco, not Mario. When Perisic is pulled you can bring in Mario.
I am still a big fan of Orsic, and his name never comes up. He is lethal. He would have threaded a beauty yesterday, mark my words, just like against Morocco. I don’t get the lack of love for Mislav and Marco. Those would be my two wings. Both bring speed and activity. We need finesse near the opponent’s goal.
It still might happen. Oršić announced that he’s back with the goal against Bayern in the Champions League. Perišić just showed that he’s aging, and Marco Pašalić showed that he’s ready to dominate even against good competition and therefore can compete with top competition. Mario Pašalić is having a very good season, but Dalić should use him as a substitute/alternate for Kramarić or another central midfielder, not as a wing. Wings should be Perišić, Marco, Ivanović, Fruk (played well either side when given minutes), Oršić, and Pjaca if he can get back to match fitness. Those are all proven players at this point.
Hopefully Dalic learns from his Euro2024 mistakes, and actually uses his subs (especially on the wing).
The strange thing about Dalić is that he actually went pretty deep with his subs at WC2022, and they delivered.
Oršić, Majer, Vlašić, Livaja, Pašalić, Petković all played key roles for us in that tournament (whether it was goals, assists or PK shootout).
Even Stanišić, Budimir, Barišić and Šutalo got some time.
Currently on the wing, we have Marco Pašalić, Oršić, Pjaca and Ivanović who can play big minutes for us.
We really need to use them, or it will be a repeat of last tournament…where we cruised into the tournament in apparently great form, then ended up doing nothing.
I like Orsic too but he is not a regular starter for Pafos. He needs to nail down a starting position so that Dalic is forced to call him up. The last time he stated was when he was with Dinamo.
He wasn’t a regular starter ( at the beginning of the year) BUT now he’s back!!!
1- Congrats to team for making another WC.
2- This team will not make it out of group phase unless some changes are made.
3- Too bad Matanovic isn’t playing more and that Dalic refuses to call Beljo. Budimir cant be the sole striker and ivanovic and kramaric aren’t lone strikers.
4- Mario pasalic, kramaric and perisic cannot all start at same time. Way too slow, obvious to everyone.
5- Perisic is far from his old self unless he uses his soccer smarts and gets open and scores he has nothing else to offer. He is the new vlasic, from a few years ago might score a goal but nothing else bring to the table.
6- Defense and midfield are fine we can argue who plays or not but this team wont be held back from those units.
7- Toni Fruk sucks end of story what are we doing playing him.
8- Marco Pasalic looks the part, he did enough to get more playing time.
9- I like Ivanovic on the wing, he can be sloppy yes but he has the will to run at guys and try things need more opportunities.
Fruk and moro need to be dropped and beljo and valinic need to be in squad.
injuries play a part and if Dinamo have a good European season wouldn’t be surprised to see beljo and valincic get calls.
valincic Sutalo Gvardiol Stanisic
P.Sucic Modric Kovacic
Marco P. Ivanovic
Beljo
Id Like to see this in the next round of games before WC. Speed and skill all over the field.
yea… pretty much agree with this.
If they can’t make it out of the group stage with the new format, that would be a disgrace. Remember, there are 12 groups, so even if Croatia are a #2 seed, two of their games will be against teams that are ranked lower than #25 in the world. They will be playing two relative minnows. Unless they get a playoff team like Italy.
one foot in the door to the WC. Whereever we end up in group stages, I’ll go catch at least one game. Am hoping its Miami or Mexico to make it beach vacation as well.
Stop this Budimir thing. He’s nto for the NT. Start Ivanovic instead.
When Fruk came on and couldnt catch up to a threw ball .. well thats it for me. HE should be nowhere near the NT.
Susic was usless and will be usless without some creativity in the midfield.
Alot of suckyness. We need Kovacic or Luka Sucic.
And Dalic is still a mid coach with great players.
I don’t agree with your assessment of Petar Sučić, but I am in agreement about Budimir. Sučić did quite a bit defensively, I think he is fine.
Our problem, as it has always been, lies in the final third. During these tough games Dalic always plays it safe. Which is fine, but you need to pick the proper players for that counter press, and play them in the right position. Mario Pašalić and Kramaric were non existent in this game. While I am not a fan of Budimir, he really didn’t have any service. But he had an opportunity to put one away for us, but he doesn’t finish strong with his shot. His strength is set pieces so he may have not been suitable in this game. I think Ivanović was the better decision. Again this falls on Dalic who doesn’t place suitable players in a position. Mario is not a natural winger and never will be. But Mario Pašalić could have played behind Budimir, the way Kramaric does and probably. Mario Pasalic would have been better there in this game, as both Majer and Luka Sučić could have been. They are taller and faster and a are.dexent finishers, Luka Sučić if course still growing into the role.
Czechia came in hard on the press, they even got to Modrić at times. Plus they fouled quite a bit from my perspective. Not sure how Czechia didn’t have at least one or two yellow cards in this game. That seems to be the norm tho, Croatia always gets the foul, they never favour us.
I think our best player that whole game was Jakić, by a mile. He was anywhere and everywhere, both in back and the final third. A close second is definitely Šutalo, he was solid, best defender for us in that game by far. He even saved two shots and prevented a potential goal.
To your point, New Again, Dalic could opt for an additional striker or winger rather than having a saturated list of midfielders in his selection.
I honestly think he needs to drop one of Fruk ro Moro.
You’re right about Mario Pašalić being a better fit than Krama for this game…but we needed actual wingers.
Budimir is a lumbering, slow, yet hardworking striker who plays for Osasuna (and he tends to score a lot of counterattacking goals with them). ..but, their team plays with wingers who send him the ball onto his head. We don’t.
In this game, it would have been fine to have Budimir in there…but maybe also Pasalic behind him (who is also great with headers and cleaning up messes in front of goal).
What was missing were the wingers, and we can’t play a strategy like this with Perisic (who largely plays slower and like a midfielder) and with Krama (who just deviates away from the wing every time he’s put there).
It would have been nice to try any combination of in-form wingers we currently have like Ivanovic, Marco, Orsic, Pjaca, etc.
I understand that it’s a critical game that you don’t want to experiment in, but this is what the Gibraltar and Montenegro games were for.
We needed to test these scenarios in those games.
Fair. My assesment on P Sucic was a bit harsh. I like him and he will be in our midfield for the next 10 years. Just hate when players go invisable and everyone says “yea but he works hard and runs”. To me its just not good enough. He should be more involved and if he’s not take him out! Dalic plays these players like they deserve the respect of Modric.
Dalic is hung up on Budimir up top alone and Ivanovic as his direct substitute (at around the midpoint of the second half).
I would like to see him try out both at the same time, but once Dalic finds a lineup that works for him…then it’s pretty much set in stone (until we get blown out or beaten by some big underdog).
Someone already said it on here, but our lineup for the World Cup will be exactly this lineup that you saw today, but with Duje coming out for the currently-injured Stanisic and with Mario Pasalic coming out for Kovacic (with Krama being push onto the wing). His substitution patterns and timing will remain the same too.
That proposed starting lineup is a fine lineup, but it has its weaknesses and Dalic isn’t adaptable when things don’t go as planned (as we all saw at the last Euros).
He is just too predictable and is fine with sacrificing any wing play, so that he can load the starting eleven with as many experienced veterans as he can. Thankfully Broz retired, otherwise he would be in there instead of Petar Sucic.
Happy that we are on the verge of qualifying, but we can’t just copy & paste our way into a World Cup semifinal again with these same Euro2024 weaknesses against the likes of Argentina, France, Portugal or even Italy.
Yup. Brozo was the worst thing that heppend to the NT. Just good enough to be there but not good enough to make a difference. And please for the love of god people dont tell me “but he ran and worked hard”. I can run 15k in under 2 hours and i work hard. So put me in coach.
Are you referring to Epicless Broz.
The love he gets from Ante is over the top. For years I have countered with his constant crying on the pitch and pointing fingers at everyone’s play but his own.
If I saw players pulling that crap, the Sucic doghouse would look like a trip to Hvar.
His father pulled him out of school because he was stupid.. It shows today in some of his decisions.
Tell me you have no clue about football without telling me you have no clue. Lol
Please explain what brozo brought to the table…
100%⬆️
The starting lineup I’d personally like to see against Gibraltar:
Kotarski
Gvardiol – Šutalo – Vušković – Smolčić
P. Sučić – Jakić
Majer
Perišić – Ivanović – Marco Pašalić
Dalic said that Kovacic will play so I think that he may be in the starting 11
Gvardiol will most likely be rested and Bradaric may get a run as the LB.
I would like to see the first half with a version of the lineup that we would actually use in the World Cup.
Jakić – Vušković – Gvardiol – Smolčić (only because Stani is out)
P. Sučić – Kovačić
Kramarić
Ivanović – Budimir – Marco Pašalić
Then I would try out the different subs (like Oršić, Kotarski, Bradarić) in these positions.
Next round, I’d do the same but with some new callups like Valinčić, Pjaca, Stanišić (if healthy), etc.
We can tweak the formation here and there, but our issue is the personnel has largely always been the same.
We need to test out some of these other midfield and winger options we have.
Goalkeeper and backline haven’t really been a problem and aren’t going to change much from Livaković, Gvardiol, Stanišić, Šutalo, Jakić…but there are always cards and injuries which makes playing Vušković, Kotarski, Valinčić important as well.
Aren’t we going to talk about Dalic not including the two wedding boys in the match day squad?
Dalic really t-bagged Luka Sucic – Sucic thought Dalic forgave him – but he only called him up to spend the game in the stands with Erlic – wonder if they spent the whole 90′ even watching the game or Luka Sucic was giving tips to Erlic, who is planning his wedding before the WC 2026 during preparations phase (he told us in September he checked with Iva), based on how his sister’s wedding went
Really harsh from Dalic to call up Bradaric, but then stick him in the stands b/w the two wedding boys
Anonymous previewed pre-match the naivety, arrogance, and/or laziness of picking the identical line-up/formation that beat them 5-1 (save Jakic for Stanisic) with exact same approach and thinking it will work again
Czech knew Dalic was going to do this – so it was very easy for them to prepare for this match accordingly
Basically, all they had to do is tell Pavel Sulc to stick to Modric the whole game and Croatia had now answer going forward (the reason Croatia looked better near the end was Sulc came off after 76′)
That’s how easy it was for Czech – put Sulc on Modric – Croatia has no other options to attack as everything needs to go through him – and as such we can be super aggressive going forward with limited risk as if they don’t go thru Modric they can’t really counter – and it worked
Liva – was ok, if anything he was trying to do a bit too much to show he’s sharp as e.g. diving to the sides, when the ball was clearly going out of play
Back 4 – they were very good individually, but also collectively – thank goodness – as they saved us as we were bunkered back, especially in the first half
Jakic as RB was very very good – both defensively but also going forward (link up play with Mario, then Marco) and taking on his man 1 vs 1 and his crosses – he was more effective going forward than Josko – that RB is position is his (he’s undroppable right now imo) – not aesthetically pleasing to watch, but very effective and responsible
Sutalo and DCC – very very good – best Anonymous has seen them play (Sutalo was lucky that every time he flopped over with any contact he got a free kick as otherwise if the ref put their whistle away he would have been caught a few times) – glad they played the whole game (would have been a mistake to take one of them off for Vuskovic this game) – that play that was offside but Sutalo tracked back hard to save two balls off the line, wow what defending
Josko – very aesthetically pleasing to watch – defensively so sound – but we needed more from him going forward on the left side – limited link up play with Perisic (compare/contrast to Jakic) – he tried to take it forward a couple of times but was closed down/tackled – we needed his crosses to be better
Petar Sucic – very quiet game – he played again (similar to Faroe) like he is focused on not getting injured on International duty – he should have picked up the slack and become the midfield man since Modric was taking out by Sulc (but that didn’t happen) – he had a shot or two at the edge of the box that were blocked – but he needed to do more and impose himself in the midfield
Modric – couldn’t get away from Sulc they whole game – once Sulc came off at 76′ then he finally found some space to try to accept more passes and take the ball forward – he tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck near the end but was unable to save Croatia yet again (that beautiful pass to Franjo was majestic)
Perisic – was off it, miss those two shots over the bar, but also missed the perfect Marco Pasalic cross with his header in front of goal – he should have pulled himself off much earlier for the betterment of the team
Mario Pasalic – is not a RW – can’t remember anything he did the whole game
Krama – limited impact – as he didn’t have Modric behind him pulling the strings (he tried dropping deep back to our CBs to pick up the ball a couple of times) – that one nice scoop pass to Budimir was really creative
Budimir – game like this shows his limitations – sure he bangs around – but is terribly slow – and offers limited link-up play with his back to goal – limited ability to carry the ball forward (and keep it away from defenders), he wants contact to flop – unless he is standing in the box waiting for a cross to come in he doesn’t really affect the game (and despite his apparent heading ability, has he ever scored a header goal from a Croatia corner? I don’t think so) – technically he’s also off it, there was that one nice scoop pass into the box by Krama and Budi tried to kick if with his left foot but completely missed it – like Jakic he’s not aesthetically pleasing to watch, but unlike Jakic he’s very effective
Franjo and Marco coming on after 60′ – Anonymous couldn’t believe their eyes – was nice to see Dalic recognized it wasn’t working (although – this still didn’t solve the issue in midfield where we needed another body to try to free up Modric or rather be a free body to get the ball from the back) – Marco was so direct – that time he cut in from the right and fired a shot (but was blocked), that beautiful cross (such nice low/direct trajectory) right onto Perisic’s head – Franjo runs a lot, but one issue is his touch/ability to control the ball – it’s very loose at times, meaning he receives the ball but isn’t able to keep it near him and than the defender is able to kick it away (this is similar issue to what Olic had, especially when he was young), he really needs to improve this as he isn’t particularly good at protecting the ball and keeping it at his feet as he runs with it – just too sloppy – also his pressing routes need work as e.g. he’d run full sleep at defender, but defender would take a step in another direction and open up a passing lane and pass it, the purpose of pressing is to cut off passing lanes and force the defender to pass it where they don’t want to
Fruk – nice to see Fruk, but couldn’t really get into the game
*like Jakic he’s not aesthetically pleasing to watch, but unlike Jakic he’s NOT very effective
You say that their tactics worked?? Are you kidding??
They had to win the match to have a realistic chance of coming first in the group. Let me remind you the match finished 0 – 0 and they will be 99.999999 % heading to the play offs.
Wow I cant believe I’m going to say this but I agree with everything Anonymous said. Would have maybe brought Kovacic on to give us another player who could break the press.
It’s about time we appreciate that Coach Dalic is going to get Croatia to a third World Cup. Croatia seems to play better when they are the underdogs. I wouldn’t worry about seeding more than getting the team ready to play in 2026. Just ask Italy how hard it is to get to the World Cup. Viva Zlatko!
I thought goalies were supposed to dive to the side to make sure that certain opportunities go wide. A safety measure.
Personally I think Livakovic was fine. Šutalo definitely saved us there many times tho, he was solid the entire game. I agree that Duje wasn’t bad either.
Czechia were on us the entire game it didn’t make it easy. Perišić was gassing out at 60 to 70 mins. Dalic needs to sub players out sooner. He should have made those changes at half time giving players like Pašalić/Ivanovic chance to make there mark on the game.
If they were on, who knows if Budimir might of even had a better opportunity to score, he didn’t really have much from anyone in that game. Although he could have made more from that one opportunity.
Dalic relies on the same people individually to make a difference. This game should show him that players like Perišić cannot do it alone anymore and that he needs support. We need width on the other side. Mario Pašalić just isn’t that guy… I am sorry but he has played there many times and it has never worked. Mario Pasalic is more suited for a different role, I think he could have been fine in the middle upfront behind Budimir. Krama didn’t have the size and stature for this kind of team and with the way they pressed.
Kovačić may have actually been good in this game, so there could be a valid argument there.
Either way, other players were available, Luka Sučić, Majer…plenty of options on the bench for that role and position. Dalic needs to utilize different options…when does he learn that other coaches are catching on to his strategy?! I anticipated a change somewhat but he is so afraid to make it happen. Immediately you could see the difference when the younger guys were on.
Yea, Dalić is too predictable.
We all pretty much knew the exact lineup before the game and how they were going to play.
The only “surprise” was him using his subs about 10 minutes earlier than usual, and the fact that he actually included Marco as a sub.
Your right Dalic is predictable his boyz play hard and they generally win man
Where are all the geniuses that said Croatia would go 8-0 in qualifying ? LMAO
Anonymous pointed out – that too many were being unrealistic – and that Croatia has never had a perfect qualifying campaign in it’s history
Also, as such, Anonymous said stop worrying about Pot 1 vs. Pot 2 as unrealistic Croatia would not drop any points
Some never learn
If Perisic hit the target on one of those chances, it could have easily been a win for us…it doesn’t take a “genius” to see that. There’s no reason to mock those who believe that we could/should win them all. We’re all aware of our past qualifying troubles.
Faroe Islands has only 60,000 people all together it seems. How can they be so good. Pretty amazing! Only 2,000 men of playing age to choose from.
They maybe a problem the way they have been playing
Helps if you play your home matches on a plastic pitch, cold windy weather and a rough plane trip to get there. High turbulence on landing with many people thinking that they will crash land.
However, as you state not many people (more sheep than people) yet they are no longer easy beats especially at home.
The biggest “What If” in this group is if only the Faroe Islands had a bit of luck on their side, they would have been in a great position to qualify.
They lost both away games to Montenegro and Czech in the dying seconds of the match.
They also could have snuck a point on us as well.
They could be second in the group now, heading into a home match against the Czechs.
This seemed like an incredibly physical game in which the ref swallowed the whistle as seen by only three minutes of stoppage
Not physical in the sense of trips etc but physical in that it seemed a massive amount of pushing and pulling was being allowed
I thought this contributed to Croatia never really looking as comfortable as usual with the ball and both teams being completey exhausted by the end as this was running/wrestling cardio combined. You ever seen perisic so tired?
I’ve generally been a proponent of budimir And still am but it was nice to see ivanovic take players on
With the tie, Croatia nearly guarantees a World Cup appearance but their odds for finishing 9th have gone down
Belgium is pretty much locked at 8th so it’s between Croatia, Germany, and Italy.
If Italy or Germany win out now, they’ll surpass Croatia.
If Croatia wins out, AND Germany AND Italy both have a tie in their final 4 games, Croatia will stay at 9.
Current odds are 38 percent down from about 60 percent prior to the game.
Working in favor is that Italy has to play Norway who seem much better than their coefficient that counts for points
A negative is Germany plays Luxembourg twice and those wins will count a lot more than they should
What if Belgium bottles it against Wales (like they usually do)?
Who cares about Italy ?
They only have 10% chance of finishing 1st in their group
Countries that qualify via the PO are all in Pot 4
I care about Italy I won’t a rematch with them so bad and want to beat them in the worst way
I agree with some opinions below… Krama, Mario Pašalić, were barely present this game and should have been subbed earlier. We have so many options in Karma’s position Luka Sučić is one for example who loves getting in scoring positions. We need fresh legs in the final third. Both Ivanović and Marco Pašalić should.have started sooner. They should have been subbed at half time.
I don’t know if it is just me, but I am not convinced with Budimir. I know he works hard, and I am not trying to take credit away from him. I know he is the highest scoring striker we have in a top tier league, but I dunno. We need someone younger up there. He did a lot of great work, but at times his ball control seems off. Don’t get me wrong it’s not easy, but still. He doesn’t seem like that kinda player who will take the ball forward for us. I dunno if we have that right now, but I don’t see it with him.
I think Dalic should drop one unessecary call up from the midfield and add a striker or a winger for more options up front.
Igor Matanovic would an ideal replacement for Budimir, but unfortunately, he is not getting a lot of playing time at Freiburg.
As Perisic goes, so goes Croatia. Should had been 2-0.
I was thinking the same…this phrase is still accurate.
Listen, we didn’t lose so I can’t complain too much. My only grievance is this team cannot find the net. We still cannot score. We still don’t have that striker. We’re not gonna go anywhere as long as we can’t score. That’s what counts.
Have you been watching any of the games so far?
I read your comments and know you to be an intelligent person and very knowledgeable about soccer . Perhaps I am to negative but this roster is not good enough to get out of the first round in this tournament. This game was a winnable game a winnable game we almost lost, there were some, moments that were close . I hope for the best . I wish that we can see some spark that this team was heading into the right direction. Maybe it’s just me , hope I am wrong
Take a look at the table posted in the article above. Croatia scores goals. This was a tough match, and Czechia defended very well, even at the end.
Yes I saw the table , I just wish we were more dominate ,
Not sure Croatia was “passive.”
In the first half, sure, but there were times in the second half where we ran at them like we were losing.
We weren’t passive, credit has to be given to Czechia in the first half. They pressed hard and did not allow us time on the ball. Second half we were better than them partially because they were physically spent especially towards the end of the match.
Friday morning coaching perspective, If the order was reversed with Ivanovic and Marco Pašalić starting, and they are subbed out for mature players to close out, Croatia would possibly have had a more dynamic first half and maybe went into the half with a lead. The difference in activity was clearly drastic. Not enough time the other way around. Here is to Luka Vuskovic given a chance with Gibraltar.
Usually, Perisic shots are on frame, and require the goalie to perform. Did not seem like he was his best self today.
We need to be dominant our last three games, to give us the best chance to close out @ 9th ranking. Don’t want to start atrophying as in the Ante Cacic days.
When Coach Dalic leaves after the ‘26 World Cup, we will better appreciate what he did. I will take Mr Dalic over any coach right now as we are about to clinch a third World Cup qualification with him. Let’s just hope his players stay healthy. Viva Zlatko!
Not Croatian soccer content, but some here might appreciate Luka Doncic’s reaction to biting into a wing with the Bomb hot sauce on it, on the new episode of Hot Ones … lol … Starts at about 12:15:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzwBq7rvdrM
The Zlatan episode of hot ones is still one of my favorites
Good result for us.
We could lose one of our remaining three games (Gibraltar, Faroe, Montenegro) and we still finish first.
World Cup qualification is essentially a guarantee. Unfortunately, we did lose FIFA ranking points with this draw and we likely can’t make it up with wins against such low-ranked teams in our group. We’ll have to see if Germany, Belgium or Italy continue to choke games, to confirm if we can secure a seed.
I didn’t mind the lineup and strategy. It was a safe lineup, and the strategy to sit back and counter was probably the best call…but not with guys like Krama in the starting eleven. It’s a tough call because of how elite his finishing has been…but we didn’t use the right personnel for this strategy, and it showed with our lack of chances in the first half.
I’m at least happy that Dalic learned to make substitutions (Ivanovic and Marco were the right subs)…but he really probably should have subbed out Krama first (who is the LEAST suited for a counterattacking game against a very physical side).
will this result today put croatia out of pot 1 thanks
Depends on Italy and Germany’s results.
But yea, we lost FIFA ranking points today.
I have read that Morocco is also a chance to overtake us. They won today against Bahrain in a friendly. They have one more friendly match to go.
If they play a strong team from South America like Brazil or Argentina and win that might be enough to overtake us ?
Overall solid performance especially in defence. The result is good and keeps us in a good position for direct qualification. Three games left, we need to beat Gibraltar and Faroes at home and that should be enough to finish first in the group.
Faroes have improved a lot, and they won’t be easy to beat even at home and hopefully they can make things difficult on Sunday for Czechia on their artificial turf.
Modric once again our best player. Perisic, I thought was disappointing today and should have done better with his two shots that sailed over the bar. Livakovic despite not playing for his club was solid in goal today.
Against Gibraltar Dalic should make 4 or 5 changes to the starting 11 and then in the second half bring in another 4 or 5 players that did not play today.
One foot in the door to the WC.
We have a plus 11 differential on the Czechs…and a game in hand. We hammer Gibraltar Sunday to add to that differential.
A win would have been nice, but a draw favors Croatia. The most important thing is that Croatia kept the ball out of our net. Czechia had very few truly dangerous plays that weren’t clearly offside, and Livaković made the saves easily. Dalić made the right substitutions, and the young players he put in played well. The match was tough all around. I think with Kovačić in the game instead of Mario Pašalić, Croatia wins. The missing ingredient was speed, which came in with the substitutions. Franjo was more effective than Perišić on that left side. Marco Pašalić was effective, period. I would like to see a younger #9 brought in too. Budimir did a lot of unseen work wearing out the Czech defense, but we also saw how much speed in the attack improves the result that Modrić and Kramarić can produce with their creativity. It’s time for the younger, faster players to play more, and it’s good to see that they’re integrated into Dalić’s famous system now.
Yeah at the end i thought we were gonna win the game. In the closing stages we looked way more likely to score and we had more speed and urgency after those subs. Perisic was badly gassed for some time.
Still good, regarding group standings , but hope we keep our FIFA 9th place ranking .
I asked the question in ChatGTP. This is what it said:
——————————-
Croatia’s new FIFA ranking total ≈ 1710.4 points
Change: −3.6 points due to drawing a lower-rated opponent (Czech Republic).
——————————-
So, we are currently tied for 9th now.
Before this game we had 1,714 points with Italy behind us with 1,710. Morocco and Germany had 1,706 and 1,704.
Germany plays Luxembourg tomorrow and they will likely move up to 1,708 points (with a win).
If Italy beat Estonia on Sunday, they move up ahead of us by about 3 points (with a win).
Morocco played a friendly against Bahrain today (won 1-0) and that put them up to about 1,708.
Hvala oboje.
Looks like we just slipped into 10th in the FIFA rankings behind Italy with the draw today. If the Germans win out, they get the 9th spot and pot 1 even if we win out. Ideally they slip up but their 4 remaining games at vs Luxembourg x 2, Northern Ireland (away) and Slovakia (home). Oh well, hopefully we get lucky and pull the US in our draw 😁.
Oh well, an awful game, but this draw should be enough to qualify. Gibraltar at home is a guaranteed 3 points and Faroe Islands at home is pretty safe too. Czechs would have to win their last two and overcome an 11 goal difference deficit, which ain’t happening.
Czechs also have to hope that we lose a game too, since we have three more games left (to their two).
Even if we lose one, the Czechs STILL have to overcome the goal deficit to surpass us.
Qualification is pretty much done.
Faroe Islands, impressive win!
Definitely more bite to our attack with Marco P and Ivanovic. The tie is good enough and maybe ruins our Pot 1 chances but that’s ok.
What a pass by Luka to Gvardiol to create that chance. Amazing vision at 40.
our grouping is so bad that when we play bad , we still actually look good.
Well, that was boring.
Perisic put in a performance similar to what he did at the last Euros… which is not great.
On the plus side the team has looked a lot more dynamic since putting in the young guys; Fruk, Ivanovic, Marco P
when are they going to put vuskovic
Čorluka probably convinced Zlatko to put Marco in.
Who is Čorluka again?
There we go!
Zlatko finally listened to me, LOL!!!
…And Marco with a nice shot already (that unfortunately was partially blocked)
I can’t watch the game but I was afraid that Perisic wouldn’t be as sharp as he had been in our last matches – I saw that he hasn’t performed super well/not played a lot in his last club matches
This is a tough match. I think he picked the right starting lineup, but now that Budimir has roughed the Czechs up a bit, Dalić needs more speed: Marco, Franjo and Toni or Martin
2 Brutal misses by Perisic and Mario P has been almost invisible.
We need speed so hopefully Marco P gets brought on sooner rather than later
As much as I’d like to see Marco, he’s not in Dalic circle of trust.
Wow, he proved me wrong.
Mario is not a creator.
He pounces on chances created by others… But we haven’t really had possession or crested anything.
We should probably just sub him off early in the second half if we continue to play like this.
It’s time to put speedster Marco Paŝalić and Franjo Ivanovic since they will be pressing more in the 2nd half.
Zlatko, for your 100th game, please put aside your petty bias to MLS and get 3 points instead of only 1!!!
1 point still puts us in a commanding position to qualify first.
I don’t think Dalić cares about being a top World Cup seed.
We could be leading by two goals from the two chances Perisic had.
He really should have buried that second chance
Pretty crappy half from us but i guess 0-0 suits us fine so if it stays like this, all good.
Looks like the strategy is to sit back, defend, and hope to play the counter.
Not a bad strategy… but it won’t work with slow guys like Krama and Budimir.
Czech has all the chances, and our forwards are just not quick enough to take advantage with a counter.
Need franjo and Marco P to do this well
Oršić would be a good sub for this game (but he didn’t make the final cut)
Agreed. You need some speed to counter which we lack up front.
What ever happened to calling a blatant offside when it happens vs this playing on and calling it well after!?!? I can see if it’s close but two of those offsides weren’t even close. Isuse.
Yeah i wondered that too – the one Sutalo saved off the line, guy was 2-3 metres offside obviously.
Here we gooooo !
Stream Link
https://for-evesemntv.icu/dec/dec15.php
Anyone else think Bradaric looks like a late teen-age Joey McIntyre from NKOTB?
Doppelgänger
Match day squad
Dalic t-bagged wedding boy Sucic he’s not included
Also Bradaric not in (so zero LB cover for Josko lol)
Erlic not in either (so at least Luka V is ahead of him – so Erlic doesn’t need to stress about his wedding during WC 2026 preparations camp)
Anyone else missing from the match l squad?
Match squad 23 (11+12)
What’s the max allowed – not sure thought it’s 25?
Dalic does with his boys till they rerire pasalic is Kovačić replacement thats that bearing injuries this is the lineup minus pasalic just sub kova at 2026
100% boring, predictable and just lazy line-up
This is exactly the formation and personnel Czech has prepared for
And now they get it
You got to mix it up to keep opponents on their toes and give them what they aren’t expecting
Your a magarac. Dalic beat them 5-1 before.. Think he knows better then you
This is a big game here.
A win pretty much guarantees qualification… and a win pretty much guarantees a top seed at the World Cup.
Czech has some key injuries (more than we do), but a draw does nothing for the Czech… so they will try to score on us and go for the win.
It’s Dalić’s 100th game. There shouldn’t be any weird surprises in the starting eleven… but hopefully he makes the right subs when he needs to.
STREAM:
https://sports100.tv/
4 game winning streak with no PK overtimes, riding on the line. This is unchartered waters. Hope we add another +3-goal differential with a 5th win. Would be nice to have a 20- goal differential over an 8-0 record. Why not? Might propel Croatia into the FIFA top 8 ranking.