FINAL: 2-0 Croatia!
Perišić MOTM with a goal and assist. Budimir with a header goal. Kramarić missed a penalty in the opening 5 minutes. Both nations will play again Sunday in Paris. Winner moves on to play Spain/Netherlands in the June semifinal. After a horrendous 2024 for the Vatreni, they are off to a near perfect start in 2025!
85′: SUB. Krama comes off for Petar Sučić. Extra added defense for the closing minutes. Krama definitely did not have the best performance tonight with his missed PK:
81′: Livaković with a phenomenal finger save! Mbappe’s deflected shot was head to the back of the net. Still 2-0 Croatia.
80′: Gvardiol with a monster tackle on Dembele in the box. If he doesn’t time it perfectly, it’s certainly a penalty. Well done!
70′: SUB. Ivan Perišić comes off for Nikola Vlašić with 20 minutes remaining. Perišić is surely MOTM with a goal and an assist. What a performance in front of his hometown faithful!
60′: SUBS from Dalić. Budimir comes off for Franjo Ivanović, who is making his international debut. Baturina comes off for Mario Pašalić. Both good changes from Dalić.
59′: Dembele dances in the box and has a great look on goal. Shoots wide but should have one better.
45′ GOOOOOOOAL!!! 2-0 Croatia! Oh myyyyyy Ivan Perišić! How did he score? He made something out of absolutely nothing. With the ball bouncing on the right side of the box, Perišić winds up a half-volley attempt and puts the ball right inside the far post. Primetime Perišić! Could the guy be more in form right. He has a goal and assist versus France in the 1st half. 2-0 Croatia at Poljud.
43′: Budimir is grabbed in the box and falls down but did he make too much of it? It certainly looked like a foul with a bit of a flop. No penalty awarded. Still 1-0 Croatia.
25′: GOOOOOOAL! 1-0 Croatia! Perišić dances on the goal line and sends an absolutely perfect cross to Budimir in the box he can only get to. The head is partially saved by Maignan but the spinning ball trickles into the net. This is what we are looking for! Prime Perišić crosses into the box for Budimir, who is fantastic in the air.
24′: Mbappe shoots and another fine save from Livi after a deflection.
22′: Fantastic through-ball from Kova but Budimir doesn’t have the speed to get on a 1v1 with the keeper.
20′: Croatia with a corner but Modrić plays it short. Dalić needs to stop this. Put the ball in the box and see what happens. Budimir has height.
18′: Stanišić pulled down at midfield. Should have been a yellow. No card given.
16′: Mbappe dances in the box and gets his shot off but it’s right at Livaković. Corner for France.
15′: Sloppy defense from France. Croatia pressing well. Gvardiol with a decent, low shot from 18 yards out but easy save from Maignan.
7′: Oh my! Kramarić misses the penalty after being too cute. He take a long run-up to the ball and softly kisses down the middle of the goal. French goalie Mike Maignan save the ball with his foot. The ball comes back to Krama on an open net and he shanks the ball high. A Panenka would have scored but a horrible effort from Krama. Still 0-0.
5′: Penalty for Croatia! Konate puts his hand up in the box and makes contact. Kramarić is taking the penalty for Croatia. Not Budimir or Modrić.
Here we go! Croatia’s first match of 2025 will be at Poljud against France.
I say this one finishes 1-1 with a goal from Perišić. Dalić reverting to a defensive back-4. Kramarić will be able to support Budimir. Budimir as the starting #9.
Well done Dalić! This is the best possible lineup you could have started today.
I am more pessimistic even than I was yesterday after processing the game and everything after 2018.
Even though we weren’t a goal scoring machine by time we played Spain in the finals last year, we have actually gotten way worse. As others have pointed out, in the past our midfielders were excellent at ball possession, even if they didn’t create a lot of chances. Yesterday, our midfielders lost numerous balls since they’re not used to being put under pressure the way they were yesterday.
Is anyone going to tell me that an athletic guy like Marco Pašalić wouldn’t have made a difference with his speed and dribbling ability?
This was not an ideal time to break in Ivanović while trying to protect leads. Having said that, he did nothing to impress me at all. We have defenders scoring on PK’s and this guy couldn’t even put it on target. He (along with Bauturina and P Sučić) looked overwhelmed by the stage.
Good game and a nice win. Happy to see the team performing! Let’s stay confident now for the second match.
A great game and a fantastic win.
What is the best strategy now going into France with a 2-0 lead? You don’t see this kind of thing, say, in NHL hockey….there you have a series lead, but not a lead like this that literally extends into the next game.
Should we just play it like it is one game, go in like we are starting 0-0, and go with the same lineup and same successful game plan we started the first game with?
Or are we protecting the lead and adjusting accordingly, playing more defensively given that we are starting at 2-0?
In other words, is this game perhaps going to look more like the second half, where France had more possession? Is there a danger of playing too tentatively and defensively?
Do you make any line up changes? Nothing dramatic, maybe Petar Sucic starting instead of Baturina, as Sucic is probably better defensively and covers a lot of ground? Or do you go with the exact same lineup that won in Split?
What is the best approach as we plan to line up for game 2 given this kind of home-and-home, two game, total goal format?
Dalić never changes lineups that seem
to be working, so it’s pretty much a guarantee that he’ll go with the exact same starting lineup as last game.
However, if Petar Sučić is in form then it would probably be best to include him into the lineup ahead of Baturina or Krama.
Agreed re Sucic BUT he has to be smart and not get two yellows like he did against Scotland. Also, as mentioned above, starting the game as if you’re not up and 0-0 again would be good. We generally are better when we’re forced to play instead of sit and bunker.
I think the ref was incorrect on both yellow cards.
I have this feeling like in euro 2016..perisic scored winning goal to secure top spot and have to face portugal instead of italy..in the end they lost.
Now perisic secured this victory may not be a good thing for qualifier later..look at ukraine..they just beat belgium 3-1..i got this feeling they may have more difficulty qualifying for world cup if they face ukraine grp. If they do beat france, they got to win nations league for modric..i rather we win nations league than qualify for world cup. At least one trophy for national team pls.
48 teams now make it to the World Cup instead of 32.
It’s like the NBA…they would have to be inept not to qualify.
Yeah but its harder for Europe now. Those places are going elsewhere. Ironically this expanded tourney will be one of the hardest to get in for Europeans.
Think 16 from Europe make the next one, whereas 13 were in the last one.
how much longer until kramarić fucks off?
Do away goals count or has that been taken out like at UEFA club team tournaments?
I don’t think that away goals count.
Modric nutmeg Rabiot 1st half
Delicious
6 interceptions and 6 recoveries
Incredible
Livakovic Cruyff turn on Dembele
Sexy
Buda was outstanding, and the team felt his absence the moment he came off. His relentless off-ball movement, constant pressure on their center-backs, and aerial challenges made him a real threat.
Modrić dictated the tempo brilliantly, and Kovačić delivered some beautiful through balls, but our lack of pace was noticeable.
Perišić—just wow. The man is 36 and still putting in performances like that. Incredible.
I’ll say it again—Kramarić has no place in this team. He’s just not it. Why he took the penalty over an in-form Buda is beyond me. I knew he wasn’t scoring before he even stepped up.
Tough to judge Ivanović fairly, given that he was thrown into his first national team cap against the second-best team in the world, but he held his own.
Honestly, if we had someone like Rebić on the left, a healthy Perišić on the right, and Buda leading the line, we’d have serious goal-scoring potential. The buildup and defense were superb—Gvardiol and Stanišić were rock solid at the back.
All in all, a fantastic result from the boys. Now, let’s just hope we don’t collapse in France on Sunday.
Andre is our best penalty kick taker. It’s the first he’s missed on the National Team. Unfortunately, it happens.
He never looked like he was going to score. First there was a lengthy delay before he took it, he then took a semi-circle around the ball and shot poorly down the middle with no power and to top it all he also stuffed up with the rebound.
Budimir was inform and is 21/23 PK scored– 91.3%
Krama out of form 46/54 PK scored — 85.2%
sure both are high but Budimir was the better option as he is better statistically and inform. Krama did not look like he was scoring at ALL.
Does anyone think Musa will have another chance ? He is playing well and I feel we really need youth on this team . We should use players like him and others in friendly and meaningless games to show us what they can do . Let not pretend if he was on dinamo that he would not be on the team playing . Players should be given opportunity before they are written off. Not saying he was going to be the next Luka but for some reason I feel like musa and others did not get a fair shake and there is some bias that exists.
If he’s serious about his career, then he’ll try to get back into Europe.
But it’s really hard to gauge how good Musa is, when he essentially plays in a beer league.
thank you for your reply. I think he maybe he sold to England. Hopefully he will excel
With a now in-form Perišić, Musa would excel. He had no service in the one or two matches he started.
Dalić’s opinion of MLS is comparable to those of Euro snobs. He could score 50 goals for FC Dallas and it wouldn’t matter.
I agree. Yet a player that scores 50 goals on a HNS team would be given a roster spot. little does he know that the other Savezs look down on him, and our Savez. He should of been sacked right after Euros
MLS is a weak league though.
Marco Pasalic plateaued in the HNL and Rijeka was eager to sell him. He goes to Orlando, and now he’s scoring like a goal per game.
It’s hard to take MLS seriously, especially when the league’s top scorers aren’t even getting callups to their National Teams.
That said, several ballyhooed European players have come to MLS and all but flamed out.
Players who flame out in the MLS likely only came for the paycheck and no longer train as they used to.
Total speculation/throwing darts there, based on nothing.
It is a weak league. I think the top scorers don’t get an opportunity because of some prejudice.
HNL is better than MLS. I’ve watched many MLS games. The current product is bad. They overexpanded; talent is severely diluted.
Definitely too much expansion. There is a new team every year, it seems.
Show us the expansion fee and you’re in! It’s laughable where NYCFC plays.
(And it also runs for way too long with a laughable and ever-changing playoff format.)
That said, it’s a tough/rough league fitness- and travel-wise.
I don’t watch too much MLS, but yes, HNL is pretty entertaining.
Once they get some better stadiums, the product will look a lot better.
We can, only hope
Yes, and no, but I think that there are some MLS teams that will beat some of the teams in HNL . Truth be told I think they’re about the same level.
Absolutely great game but only thing that I didnt like was Pasalic and Vlasic performances. Think we need younger quicker guys off the bench to keep the team moving.
Agree both very slow. Lack of speed is why Vlasic never made it in EPL.
I agree that Pašalić played poorly, but Vlašić did a lot of important stuff during his time on, winning the ball back and muscling France back into their half. He even did some mental game stuff by getting in an argument with their defenders. That all helped Croatia win.
Agreed. I was happy with Vlasic’s brief cameo. Is it just me or did the dude get bigger? Looked juiced
Vlašić was solid because he brought that aggression and pressured with his physicality.
Pašalić was our worst player, but Dalić was a fool to sub him in at that point in the game.
Pašalić’s strength is in his ability to play off the ball (not with the ball at his feet). He’s good at counters and crosses, and getting into scoring position.
We were defending and we needed to keep Baturina in there (or sub in another technically gifted player in there for him) to continue to maintain possession and make tight passes in those small spaces on our end.
Pašalić has heavy feet and is not as quick or accurate as the rest of our midfielders to play this way.
This was not the game nor the time to sub him in (unless you played him up top to simply pressure the opposing defenders).
I didn’t like the subs in this game.
I thought Budimir came off way too early. He could’ve easily played the full match. His loss was felt once we took him off.
Krama stayed on too long.
I figured Dalić would sub in the Hajduk crew (Pašalić, Vlašić) before subbing in guys like Petar Sučić or Toni Fruk.
Pašalić wasn’t good, but Vlašić was solid.
Hopefully we just stick to Sučić being the first one off the bench in our next game (if we don’t start him).
Ivanović played well and should be the backup for Budimir going forward… But we really need Budimir out there for 75+ minutes.
I don’t think Coach Dalic needs to listen to all of this expert advice. The continual criticism of a coach that has led Croatia to 2 World Cup Semifinals is too bad. Let’s appreciate Coach Dalic while we still have him. Viva Zlatko!
The decision to sub Budimir was perfect at that point:
1) We need him again on Sunday since he’s our only proven scorer.
and
2) It’s not Ante’s strength to be chasing down speedy French defenders and midfielders once we went to bunker-ball in the 60th minute. Having fresh legs and breaking in Ivanović made more sense.
It was still a big risk.
France completely took over after he subbed off, because there was nobody to pressure their back line. It allowed the French defenders time to get organized. Even their goalkeepers was playing well off his line.
Budimir plays 90-minute games all the time for Osasuna (both league and cup matches) without a minute’s rest.
He can easily play both these games (with three days rest in between). He can rest when he gets back to Spain.
You answered your own question, Dalic subbed him out to utilize him on Sunday in France. Expect him to log at least 60 mins Sunday.
Perisic had not even ONE fan in his corner 99% of you were dumping govno all over the guy even after everything he has done for the Repka…repent you fools!!
kurvin sin
Who are you the son of?
I think Toni Fruk should have come on instead of Vlasic
He plays for Rijeka. and because of that Dalic will never give him a shot
Excellent result. Livako was fantastic with some huge saves.
Modric should have been subbed off to rest him for the return game. Petar Susic needs more minutes. Krama was on for too long as well.
If luka got subbed off early we would have struggled alot earlier with the attack. Modric staying in allowed us to pres and regather as he always offers himself to teammates to get out. There were few times I dont think any other player on our side would of got us out but luka. Decision was great to keep him on as long as we did becuase indirectly it led to us scoring.
Bog. Hi. Love the site. Thanks for great insight and information.
“Ako ne znas sta je bilo…Hrvatska pobijedila Francuzi ” 🙂
…Perisic!!!
Stop with the negativity and support your people and nation. F in guy blew, his knee, which takes time to heal and most of you, like novinari piss on him and want him to retire. What do you have to say now? He’s been scoring world class goals vs top teams. If I was you, id apologize and say I was wrong. Instead, most will probably avoid picking on Perisic and abuse Krama for missing PK. Yeah I was pissed too, but shite happens.
Strong men are real and positive. Weak men are negative.
Croatia beat France. Enjoy. Ɓe happy and proud. Be a role model and try and help this team win trophies, medals and their people.
If you’ve played soccer at any decent level you get it.
Did we miss Vuskovic?? Lol. No. I’d love to see him play as well, but there is something to say about loyalty. Lovren, vida, etc…these characters help everyone and are important to help the middle generation help the next generation like Vuskokic etc be a world class player for club and country for years to come.
Be proud. Mi smo hrvati.
Idemo dalje.
And.. revisit your starting lineups lol
Bravo Dalic…legenda!!! Ma jesi pametno! Pobjedo si Dechamps.
Sto bi mi, bez Dalic 😉
Pozdrav
Completely agree.
I’m glad Perisic is back in form but let’s not pretend that he didn’t fuck us for the Euros. He never should have been allowed to play when he clearly wasn’t still 100%. He pretty much just used the Euros for his own injury rehab which is unacceptable and quite selfish imo.
He didn’t use the Euros to “rehab”. We had no one better at that point.
If a guy like Oršić wasn’t injured, you would have a point.
Marco Pasalic was more in form than Perisic.
He shouldn’t have played, but that’s Dalic’s loyalty for ya.
Glad to see him back 100%. Hopefully he can stay in form like this, but we really, really need to start looking at other RW players (Stojkovic, Durdov, etc.) and give them 15-20 minutes off the bench.
Agreed. I was surprised how many wrote off Perisic including Ante Kvarteluc, owner of this site; form is temporary, class is permanent, I never had an issue with Ivan getting starts as he’s paid his dues and has any other winger looked much better than him during his recovery from injury? Perisic is generational talent l, better than Robben !
Still the first leg but we did good. We need to finish the job on Sunday before celebrating to the max.
Budimir had a great match with all the runs he was making and trying to get fouls for us (Almost had a second penalty but I dont think the referee would give two penalties against France). He seemed a bit disappointed to be subbed out at the 60th Min. Poor guy has to work over time just to get noticed.
Modric- Great game. He can play for us even when he hits 60, we will push him in a wheel chair if we have to.
Livakovic- Great game. He saved 3-4 goals and seems to have an injury on his leg.
Overall, we did good its nice to have a mix of old and young players and we should trust Dalic in what he does, it seems to be working!.
Lastly, i would rather lose 100x with a full Croatian squad than to have a squad like France and win everything.
I agree that the Job is not over. We have right to celebrate because this win was huge given our history with the French. Some plus and minus today . Overall the team played well. Sundays game will be a war and that’s the real challenge. Can we beat them twice in a row? The French are at home and will come out swinging. It won’t be an easy game and just because we won today means nothing. Luka looked like a 20 year old today. That penalty miss cannot happen again. We need to be better . And yes the day that Nepal, Fillpino put the dress on is the day we are no longer Vatreni
Yes.
Best way to lot lose the win late in the game is to be up 2! Great game from the boys. Best we have seen them play in ages. Good to see young and old playing well together
Solid game and as good of a lineup we can field.
Perisic is back! He really played well. Liva made some good saves and we finally held on for a W. Only issue I had was with the Vlasic sub…he really doesn’t offer much.
Having Stanisic back at RB really changes this team. Going back to 2018, the 4-2-3-1 always has been our best formation.
The only downside is if we get by France and into the semi’s, our WC group is tougher with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan.
We beat the French we will beat Ukraine Iceland and Azerbaijan
This team gives me so pleasure.
Hvala🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I think Kramaric is done.
Cause he missed the pk?
Kramaric has been performing some of his better time the past couple of years for us
He’s become much more of a team player and as others have stated been defensively responsible
I will respectfully disagree
As a person who gave Krama a difficult time in the past, I also disagree with this statement. Krama played fairly well, it’s one bad penalty. The guy scores many from the spot and he is easily our best spot taker despite this occurrence.
Loved when Mbappe went down easy in the box and Modrić was pulling him back up like “get back on your f*ckin feet”
Mbappe had that guilty grin on his face
Pretty good win! Even with the missed penalty was good all round. Glad i watched this one with the old man.
What a great match! Excellent team defending to hold the lead. Excellent buildup to keep France on the back foot. Great Perišić to give Croatia the win, and unbelievable play from Livaković against some excellent France chances to keep the margin at 2 goals. Kramarić with a poorly taken penalty, but he paid it back by playing a lot of solid defense. The young players all looked like they belonged. Ćaleta-Car was a rock. Dalić made the right choices. Croatia wins and will try for the Nations League trophy. Everyone happy tonight?
I have to give credit to Ante he pretty much called the lineup.
Caught the second half.
Unfortunately didn’t see the first half which obviously we were more dominant in
Gvardi takes risks but man does he get back when needed
Luka telling that lil bitch mbappe to get up, playing up a dive
I’d sure like to slap him
Nice guys
Liva with a massive save. Those reflex saves aes basically world class. Goal kicks however my dead baba would probably do better at
What do you do
Keep it going
The all whites beat the all blacks today
Did Mbappe leave at the end without shaking any hands? Pretty bad sportsmanship for captain of his team.
Yup
Saw that
Went off pouting like a spoiled child
Not man enough to face the wrath of Modric again – who would have no doubt yelled at him again for that dive near the end
At least Camavinga is professional enough or at least he was desperate to swap jerseys with with his teammate Modric
It looked that way. Just went straight to the dressing room. It’s especially bad because there was nothing controversial in the match. Croatia won fair and square. France even got a bit of help but couldn’t do anything with it.
And Modric as always out playing and out hustling everyone. Amazing.
Gvardi wants it , he looks like he wants to kill one of these French guys
Livakovic and Gvardiol have been sensational!!
Totally forgot about the game
Any links?’!
Sounds like we are playing solid or is France blowing it for a somehow easier draw?
To top this off please Dalic play Ivanovic so he can be cap tied for us
I’m reading the earlier comments about Ivan. I’m assuming folks aren’t watching him at PSV or are trolling.
NOBODY. NOBODY, has done more for the national team than Ivan Perisic!
kurvin sin
Complete agreement – Ivan has been so solid for a long time.
Anyone who booed Perišić should not be escorted out of Poljud.
Budale.
Too bad Livaja couldn’t play.
We’d be up 4-0 by now if he played. 😉
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Croatian Tactics seem to favor the long ball vs the slow build up.
Baturina should be subbed out
We seem to have some issue with goal kicks. Caleta -car took one and when Livi takes it.. they seem to die at half.. maybe his foot or leg is injured.
Random question. Where can i register for an account for this site? I only see a “login” option
Hajduk fans’ minds are glitching out right now due to contradictory emotions about Perišić
Who wanted Perišić on the bench? Man of the match so far and looking very fit on both ends of the pitch
Looks very fit! Sofascore has his player rating at 8 right now
He’s in crazy good form.
We can only pray he stays like this for 2026.
We still need to call up some youngsters to come off the bench for him though.
Moj Ivane. What the hell is going on Perisic? Love it.
As Anonymous previewed
Digne side is one to attack
He’s terrible defending (but very good going forward)
Good thing Dalic scraping CS.com
WHAT A GOAL FROM PERISIC
That would’ve been a Baturina goal if it wasn’t blocked.
Crazy good goal by Perišić.
Budimir really high IQ all half
In particular how he’s drawing / trying to draw all the fouls
Smart
Baturina off at half please
Called 2-1 and Budimir was getting one. Perisic did all the work. Man, he’s really turned it on .
Budimir making Arsenal’s Saliba look like a school boy
High IQ run into box and excellent header
Nice touch high five w firefighter
Budimir!
Baturina is slow
He’s skilled though. He fits seamlessly with our creative midfield.
We would’ve been way worse off if we started Vlašić or Pašalić.
21 min
Beautiful Kova pass to Budimir
As Anonymous previewed Budimir too slow for that kind of play
If Ivanovic or Fruk there instead to receive could have broken in past defender (maybe another penalty)
Primitive Dalic tactics
Even Ange knows
You put a decoy penalty taker
When VAR check is done (and that delay for laser pen or whatever)
The decoy leaves and actually penalty taker steps forward
Also keeper doesn’t have time to check notes which direction to dive, etc
Krama standing there 3 minutes with too much time to think
Primitive Dalic and Modric should know better as captain on the field
When you go down the middle, you have to raise it.
We’ve had too many successful PKs go down the middle (Modrić, Majer) where we’ve been lucky it went in.
Eventually a keeper will get his foot on it.
Krama had his penalty saved. Too be fair he had to wait a long time to take it because fans were shining a light in the goalkeepers eyes. His nerves must had been getting the most of him.
https://new.soccerstreams100.io/event/uefa-nations/france-vs-croatia-live-soccer-stats/723709
To be fair??
Lolol
Why isn’t Budimir taking penalties?? That was one of the worst shots I’ve seen..
Why not Budimir with the pen??? Smg
Attacking Digne side – rather than Kounde side – seems like way to go- Dalic should consider Gvardiol switching w Stanisic so he can join Perisic on that side (not permanent but for 5-10 minutes during H1)
This is horrible…..majority of the players are over 30. If your going call up younger players you need to let them play NOW.
Gvardiol should be CB and Juranovic LB. DCC is not National team starter material.
Kramaric & Perisic won’t be around for the World Cup. Why are the starting?
Buda is our only option at striker so I am ok with him starting…but he needs to be phased out of the team as well.
You need to balance player form though.
I agree with you on playing the youth (I’m actually one of the biggest advocates of putting Modric on the bench)…
but Luka Sucic is injured and Petar Sucic has only recently come off a long injury, so I agree with them not playing today.
Otherwise, I would bench Krama and Modric in favor of these two.
I would also have called up Luka Stojkovic, to begin having him play the last 20 min of the game behind Perisic.
Perisic is in great form, so I don’t mind him starting today, but I don’t want to give him an automatic 90 minutes (especially since he’s known to just walk around on the field when tired)…and I doubt he’ll be playing this good in 18 months at the World Cup (whereas a player like Stojkovic is going to continue to improve at RW) so we have to plan accordingly.
Luka Vuskovic over Duje Caleta-Car is a complete no-brainer. Absolute shame that he didn’t even get a standby callup. Easily our best CB right now.
You’re bang on @ZDS.
We’re too old, too white and too slow. We have arrived in the also-ran category.
This team that’s going to be trotted out on a few minutes is an embarrassment
I agree , any young player with talent should be given a chance and should be playing .
Markus predicted line-up 💯 correct (and he published before SN and all press)
So I guess Dalic is now scraping Markus to make his line-up decisions ?
Thanks a lot Markus we have no choice but to blame you for all the geriatrics
😊
2-1 for us. Gvardi and Budi with the goals, late penalty gets us the late goal. I wouldn’t be $2.00 Canadian on it but what the hell , it’s a guess. Jebi ga!!!
Modric takes the penalties
He would’ve missed to