Croatia defeat Gibraltar 3-0 in Varaždin and are now 99.9% qualified for the 2026 World Cup! Start booking your plane tickets!, folks!
It was a rag-tag misfit group of starting XI players from Dalić — and it was ugly for most of the game — but the result is all that matters.
Goals from Fruk, Luka Sučić and Erlić sealed the deal. Majer missed a penalty kick. Modrić, Perišić, Kramarić all came off the bench in the 70th minute.
But the news of the day is Faroe Islands defeating Czechia 2-1. Oh my! Now Croatia only need one draw from their final two matches vs. Faroe Islands or Montenegro to directly qualify for the World Cup.
90′: GOALLLL 3-0 Croatia and the final score! Erlić heads home to cap off the victory in Varaždin.
78′: GOOOOAL!! 2-0 Croatia. The return of Luka Sučić! Sučić taps in a rebounded ball in the box with the goalkeeper out of position.
75′: Marco Pašalić with a booming shot from 20 yards out. Great save from the keeper.
70′: TRIPLE SUB. Modrić, Perišić, Kramarić all come on. Baturina, Ivanović, Kovačić come off.
60′: SUB. Gvardiol come sin for Pongračić.
57′: Majer steps up to the spot and shoots a low shot the the bottom- right. It’s BLOCKED by the Gibraltar keeper. Well done! Has Majer ever been a good PK taker? Why is he taking this one? Still 1-0 Croatia.
56′: PENALTY. Fruk goes on a run in the box and is taken down.
46′: SUB. Welcome back Luka Sučić! He comes in for Moro after the halftime break.
HT: Wow. Croatia only up 1-0 at halftime vs. Gibraltar on home soil. I personally hate these games. It’s a bunch of rag-tag misfits running around individually without purpose. Will we score a few more goals in the 2nd half? Sure. But it’s just ugly. This game should be in the bag already. Pašalić can’t buy a goal and has already hit the post. Majer had a point-blank chance on goal. I would imagine Modrić and Perišić will come in around the 60′ mark purely for fanfare in front of the Varaždin crowd.
31′: GOALLLL! Finally. Marco Pašalić crosses into the box and Fruk heads home to break the deadlock. 1-0 Croatia.
30′: WOW. 30 minutes in and still scoreless against Gibraltar.
28′: A Marco Pašalić shot from inside the box rings off the post and out.
18′: Majer has a point blank shot form the penalty spot following a deflection but the Gibraltar keeper makes the save for a corner. Still 0-0.
12′: Gibtarlat with a run towards the Croatia goal.The Shot is stopped by Kotarski for a corner. But Gibraltar is ruled offside.
10′: Marco Pašalić inside-outs a shot from inside the box. But it’s on the other side of the post.
7′: Kovačić rolls the free kick just outside the Gibraltar box to Baturnina who has his shot deflected out for a corner.
Here we go!
We have a World Cup qualifier from Varaždin which is pretty cool for the city. Expect a completely flip-flopped 2nd squad side from Dalić for this one.
Media reporting that Livakovic was on 2 million Euros a season at Fenerbahçe.
Apparently, he agreed to drop his pay by 80% to be loaned out to Girona.
So far, he has not played a minute and has been stuck to the bench.
Needs to find another club come January transfer window ?
However, there could be a problem. I have read that if he plays for Girona before the January transfer window, rules do not allow you to play for three different clubs in the same season. So most likely he is stuck at Girona?
Folks get ready for the U21 match v Ukraine in Velika Gorica.
KO at 18:00 hrs Croatian Time with LIVE coverage on MaxSport 1.
Dalic says 2x friendlies in US in March 2026 to get used to the “weather conditions”
Who wants to explain to him that the June/June 2026 weather will be nothing like what he faces in March 2026?
I would say pot placement isn’t quite as important this year as some ppl think.
1. Many THIRD place teams will advance to the knockout rounds. So being paired with a “heavy hitter” like France, Arg etc isn’t as big of a deal, you get some margin of error, since 3rd place “likely” to be enough.
2. If we are a pot 2 team, then we then have 3/12 chance in getting one of the hosts, which are all much weaker than the rest of pot 1. Playing Mexico IN Mexico wouldn’t be ideal, but their team is still overall weak. (likelihood of us getting paired with a European pot 1 team is much lower, since the draw won’t allow more than 2 European teams in the same group).
Anyway, Pot 1 would be nicer yes. But I don’t think it’s as big of a deal in this new tourney format where majority of 3rd place teams also advance.
It isn’t a big deal, but it still increases your odds to progress deeper into the knockouts.
The concern isn’t about not being able to finish in the top-2 or top-3 in your group. The concern is moreso about being drawn against a top seed in the “Round of 32”.
All advancing third-placed teams will immediately face a Group Winner in the R32 knockout phase….and even some second-placed teams will face a Group Winner as well.
I would prefer to be seeded in our Group, just so we increase our odds of topping it…then face a weaker opponent who barely squeezed in.
Of course, anything can happen (you may get one of the hosts, or some team overachieves, or you end up drawing Pot 4 Italy), but still, the odds are in your favor if you’re seeded.
For example, all of Belgium’s progressions to the knockout phases were entirely from being seeded in the easier groups of every tournament (from WC2014 to Euro2024) and they advanced entirely on beating easy teams. They almost never beat a good team in their group.
Yes agree. The round of 32 opponent is a factor. But a lot of variables are at play in determining the final look of the brackets. Also for example if we get France in our group, then we almost certainly could not play them again until the final, which would be a benefit.
As I said, pot 1 would be better. But if we don’t get at this year, I won’t be as pissed as usual. As I said this year there is not only 1 (and not only 2) but 3 host countries that would be weak pot 1 teams that we could be paired up with (and very likely may, since we may be blocked from getting a European pot 1 team)
Just thinking out loud here. The rule of not having more than 2 European teams in the same group… I wonder if it also increases the probability of us drawing Argentina or Brazil apart from one of the co-hosts.
As a Pot 2 seed, we could draw Argentina, Italy and Algeria
😜
Or Canada, Uzbekistan and Cabo Verde.
Yeah it does.
WC 2022 they were in our group and didn’t advance. It was us and Morocco.
That’s my point.
The one time they get a couple of decent teams in their group, they can’t beat them.
Agreed.
Given Dalic is now focused on SPEED (all of a sudden)
Will be shocking of Kulenovic doesn’t get called up in November (he’s like Jamie Vardy full of running, decent speed and energy)
Imagine a front 3 for the WC
Marco Pasalic / Lisica
Franjo / Kulenovic [depending on opponent can slot in tall target front-man e.g. Budimir, Igor, Beljo, Musa – all similar profiles more or less]
Perisic / Best HNL LW (who’s also fast – Vinko Rozic?)
Back 5 of Valincic-Sutalo-Vuskovic-Gvardiol-Stanisic (or Bradaric)
Wow
Croatia will cook at the World Cup if that’s what Dalic has in mind
Comments re: Gibraltar game
Kotarski – no comment as wasn’t tested (as previewed we won’t learn anything about the keepers in matches like that)
Bradaric – HUGE upgrade on Sosa – more technical, slick, speedy, good link up play with others (considering he hasn’t played for NT for years) – no clue why folks criticizing his crosses – he doesn’t lob the ball in – but he had many cut-back crosses to players in the box – definitely would include him in the NT going to WC (not sure how Dalic will play him, but he should be on the plane)
Erlic and Pong – didn’t get tested – no real opinion (other than Marco tracked back a couple of times to cut off the offensive threat before it got to Pong)
Marco – WOW – Anonymous can’t remember seeing a NT game where a player ran top gear from beginning to end like that – it was incredible – the effort was out of this world – thought he’d gas out but no – maybe only playing once a week in Orlando is good (as he’s not over-worked) – the dribbling, the crosses, the shots, the movement with / without the ball, the hustle to get back defensively, the impetus to keep going, keep trying things – it was all incredible – Anonymous’ favourite ? The beautiful cross-field crosses to Bradaric to make a quick change of play from one side to the other – Anonymous has been asking for this for years now ! That’s what you need to cut through teams – move the ball quick – draw the players to one side to commit – than quick cross-field pass to other wing where there is an opening #EveryWingerWillEventuallyMatter
Moro – reminds of T’s Joao Palhinha style – suspect he’s more a defensive oriented player (so not really tested) but was ok in central midfield and with efficient with his passing – would have liked to see him play 90′
Kova – obviously rusty at the beginning – but grew into the game and started to impose himself and got better with his passing
Baturina – was quiet to start the game – but he got better as it went on – he made good effort on running hard at least for the pressing – he showed a bunch of tricks: flicks, back-heels, cute passes through – that was all good – the one issue is when he gets the ball and takes it forward – is he SLOWS the entire play down – it happen a couple of times – and than Gibraltar got back in their compact formation – not sure how to fix that – he has to try to practising taking the ball forward at higher gear and than passing it quickly
Majer – penalty was terrible – he missed the tap-in in front (he had to stop the ball and then kick if – if he was more technical astute he would have volleyed it immediately) – he is a decent and serviceable AM – but doesn’t wow Anonymous
Fruk – good movement and instinct to get his head on the perfect cross from Marco for the goal – had issues with his dribbling actually getting pass players and into space for him to pass it on – I think he’s already over-worked this year (over 1300 minutes played) and needs some load management
Franjo – did his thing – but similar to Fruk had issues getting past players – would have liked more from him, but he was unlucky not to get a goal
Subs
Luka Sucic – he was the worst midfielder yesterday – no clue why there is any praise for him – firstly, when Croatia scored the first goal – did you notice the entire bench got on its feet to celebrate – expect for Luka Sucic who was slumped in his chair having a hissy fit – than he came on and his body language (facial expression in particular) was terrible, his shoulders were slumped forward – it looked like Dalic hit him with his belt and Luka was sulking – the only memorable thing was playing around with the defender and keeper on a couple of crosses – and yes he was in the right place right time for the goal – but other than that was completely anonymous
Your are right regarding Luka Sucic, but he already had me in 2023, and so much as transpired negatively this year with him in mind. The rebound goal at least showed his killer response and reflexes, and aggressive positioning to take advantage of the rebound.
Even the goal. He didn’t even celebrate. Looked like a petulant child pouting all game (bench + field). No clue what he’s playing at but Dalic won’t like it. Dalic extended an olive branch and he pissed all over it w the attitude/body language (he’s putting his selfish whatever ahead of the team first mentality Dalic wants)
Look at when Erlic scored – he was overcome w emotion (was doing his best to hold back the tears) – it’s like all the hard work he put in his life came flashing before his eyes / came pouring out – for all his limitations, it clearly means the world to him to be on the NT and score that goal – you win tournaments w players like that that give all for the badge
I happen to agree with your take on Luka Sučić, he only had to miss two games he shouldn’t be sulking. Duje miss so much time, so he should be happy he is playing. Not a good show by Luka Sučić that is for sure, to not be happy about your first international goal, WTF.
Even Pero said a few words to him (after Dalic) on the side-lines before he came on – everyone is supporting him – but he needs to make it all about him
Compare/contrast when Gvardiol came on – he looked like he was coming on against Brazil in a World Cup final – all team/all business ready to go
You can’t have players on the NT that make it all about them – unless they are Zlatan level talent/performances
Maybe Dalic knew this is how Luka Sucic would behave – and invited him – just for him to make his own grave – so Dalic doesn’t have to invite him next time (this way Dalic can say I tried but didn’t work – so he doesn’t take flack over the wedding decision anymore)
We all know Sučić is immature, so it shouldn’t be shocking. His body language never is the greatest.
Having said that, we do need him at the World Cup at his best to do anything serious. If stubborn Zlatko finds a way to fit him and Marco Pašalić somehow in the same starting lineup, we’ll have at least 4 midfielders who are attacking minded and the best since the 2018 World Cup.
Hilarious
Now Dalic has mentioned he’s watching Lisica
No clue what changed that now he’s focused on speed (as it’s been clear for years now we need to add speed) but let’s take it
As Anonymous previewed back in August – NT needs both Marco and Lisica on the RW – they are different profiles / types of player – Marco likes to cut inside offensively vs. Lisica is more of a touch-line winger
Add Valincic as RB and wow we’ll be cooking
Valinčić should be higher priority than Lisica.
We can’t go into the World Cup with only Jakić at RB…and Juranović’s is on a serious decline and is likely done with the NT.
At RW, we’re still (unfortunately) likely to start a central midfielder there like Krama or Mario Pašalić.
Marco at least will get some minutes off the bench. Hopefully we sub in our players sooner in this tournament.
Dalic name-checked Valincic before the match (also Lisica after the match). And Majer name-checked Valincic in a 24sata interview after the match
Doubt Majer would name-check Valincic unless there has been discussion w/in the team that he’s getting a call in November (IF he continues to perform) – it wouldn’t make sense (who the F is Majer to start dropping names, right?)
So think Valincic gets a call in November – but let’s see (agree JJ is back-burner right now UNLESS he starts playing and dominating at Union this year)
Here’s a theory – Dalic has known for awhile now (definitely since after Euro 2024) that he needs to get some speed up front – BUT – he didn’t want to rock the apple-tree and risk World Cup qualifying (in case those players he picked didn’t work out and/or disrupt the chemistry with old-guard/guys that have been around for awhile and have only being playing bc he puts them on the wing) – so he said to himself – I can qualify for the tournament with what I have – but as soon as I do qualify – I’m changing the front-line with new FAST players as I want to do well at the World Cup
I could see that being his “master-plan” all along – it makes zero sense otherwise – now why all of a sudden (out of nowhere, as soon as we qualify) that he comes out to the media and says Croatia need to be faster in transition and need speedy players up front
Who’s the “best” HNL LW option he could be looking at (who is FAST) – only noticed Vinko Rozic last year – is there someone else ? (definitely not Vidovic that’s for sure ha)
P.S. Dalic also said Smolcic didn’t play bc he got injured in training
So Dalic has Jakic, Smolcic, Valincic in mind [JJ back-burner]
I don’t mind if Valincic is the better option that Jakic at RB – that he plays at the WC – but you need to take Jakic – he got Dalic out of a bind in the NL last fall and in WC qualifying this year – it would be really unfair not to have him in the squad
Model says odds of Croatia finishing 9th have moved from 38 percent to 25 percent
If Germany ties Slovakia And Italy drops points and Croatia wins out, they could still do it. The Belgium second place route looks closed.
Are we definitely out of pot 1 now or could we still make it there somehow?
Everything I’m reading is not positive.
Had we started Marco P and Suĉić on Thursday, we would have had a win and this would have been a non-issue.
Clearly Zlatko didn’t care about being in Pot 1.
Tongue and Cheek I take it. Of course he cared.
He was doing limbo soccer, How slow can you go?
Sure.
Germany has to win out by beating both Luxembourg and Slovakia.
They’re likely going to do so, but you never know. Slovakia might screw them over again.
Slovakia is ranked 47th, so if Germany draws them then they drop below us.
That’s the last opportunity for us to secure a top seed.
Unfortunately none of these other results going our way. I’ve had the Wales game on in the background this morning, hopefully they get a draw still.
Croatia was able to progress in 2018 with an overabundant prime aged offense, so much so, (Kalinic quit with hard feelings), and a prime aged midfield.
They were able to go far in 2022 by controlling the middle of the field ,with a aging but a ton of experience middlefield.
Turning the page to 2026, Let’s face it, Modric is the world’s “10th” wonder, and if he can stay healthy playing in Milan, with a heavy load this season, that will be a miracle. Petar Sucic my be an upgrade from Brozovic in 2022. Kovacic is now a fine wine , ready to be opened if healthy.
Gvardiol is now 4 years older sophomore. We need Vuskovic as our new freshman. That would be a written in the stars historical offensive defense the world as yet to see.
I believe we have the people who can produce up front as well, although they might not have driven us to the dance, since we did not invite them.
Like maminjo says, Dalic is a man of character, so who he plays is as much about developed relationships as it is performance, being a man of spiritual and moral principle, Bless his Soul.
With that said Perisic is a treasure, and has a role to play but we do need to believe our eyes and additionally play the players that will produce as well with young legs.
Marco, Mislav , Luka S, Luka V and all the other options Maminjo researched and suggested.
I hope we pick wisely. How many PKs can we keep winning, and if we are relying on PKs, than Mislav Orsic must be on the field during overtimes.
As of now, it looks like door closing on Croatia being top 9 seed. I just think it’s real hard for Belgium not to win the group with a tie. Germany needs to tie someone but if it’s not Northern Ireland, i doubt it will be Luxembourg. So that would be a wrap
This is a stupid handball call if it goes through against Wales.
Really dumb that wasn’t intentional.
We would never get a call like that.
Is FIFA going to match where games held vs diaspora congregated ?
So Kansas City, Philly, New York, Boston, maybe Atlanta (stretch) and Toronto ?
Would be dump if NA Croatians have to travel down to Mexico as eg
Anyone know?
I don’t think they care.
Hopefully we get the EAST region with Miami, NY, Philly, Jersey, Boston.
I’m not against SOUTH, with the nice Texas stadiums…but Kansas City is pretty far from the rest of the south locations, plus I’m not sure how time consuming it will be to cross between Texas and Mexico.
WEST region would suck. Seattle, Vancouver, etc. Lots of Croats in LA and Vancouver, but it’s still far.
lol
Modric was watching Czech lose to Farroe before the Gibraltar game yesterday (and laughing with the whole team when they lost)
x.com/EleModric/status/1977459502808244530
#EpicModro
https://football-md.com
46% Germany drops points today (NI: 21% win+25% draw)
62% Belgium drops points today (Wales: 36% win+26% draw)
We also need to cheer for Macedonia today vs Kazakhstan
Yes ! 76% win (15% draw, 9% loss)
Wales got poked 3-0 by England in a friendly, so hopefully they come out strong today (we can hope for a Brennan Johnson hat-trick ! ;-))
Hmm it seems like we have to hope for Wales to win, because a tie between Wales and Belgium won’t really stop Belgium from topping their group? Say if Wales and Belgium were to draw and subsequently Belgium win their last 2 games against Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, this would give Belgium 18 points. Wales, who are currently a point behind Belgium, would then finish with a maximum of 17 points. Makedonija are currently on 12 (GD +9) and can finish with a maximum of 18 points but would very likely end up with a poorer GD compared to Belgium (GD +13) who can rack up goals against minnows in their last 2 games…
So… I guess we want Germany to drop points and Belgium to lose today? In any case, go Wales, go N. Ireland! =P
Yes, let’s say Wales beats Belgium, and the rest of the results go as predicted (but your never know) – Macedonia beats Kazakhstan, Belgium beats Kazakhstan, Wales beats Liechtenstein and Belgium beats Liechtenstein. That leaves the points as Belgium 17, Wales 16, Macedonia 15 with the last game being Wales hosting Macedonia. If it is a tie, Belgium likely gets first on goal difference, but if either Wales or Macedonia win, they win the group and Belgium gets second. Side note is that if Wales or Macedonia are third place, as of now they would both get a playoff spot because of winning their Nations League group last year.
Thanks Mile. Too bad the Belgium second-place route is gone now, oh well.
Marco P erforming on that right wing !!
I even like is missed shots as he is the one who creates them. His dropping pinpoint crosses into the box too?!
Dalic is Dalic, I am just thankful that we NOW have a legit left footed, dynamic athlete on the RW going into the World Cup on US soil. It took longer than needed to realize but all good.
I actually think Marco P’s MLS experience is valuable for the World Cup as MLS is super international and physically demanding, plus the heat and humidity of playing Orlando.
Toni Fruk, Ivanovic fully welcome on the young dynamic legs crew.
You need young legs at an any World Cup. Especially when your best player is 40 years old!
Curious to see who you start vs Faroe Islands in Rijeka ?
Haha, like MART, I’m looking forward to the Germany and Belgium matches later today. Such a nice feeling to have all but qualified and we can have the luxury of turning our attention to our chances of staying in Pot 1. I’m not at all sure about the calculations but from what I gather, our chances aren’t very good? Germany being Germany, I feel like they will get over the poor start (loss to Slovakia), crank it up a few notches and win out their remaining games. I notice something about Belgium though… if you look up their results, they have been in shaky form since EURO 2024 (their NL results were awful in particular). After toppng their qualifying group for 6 tournaments in a row, I wonder if they can top their group again for the 7th straight time given that they are looking a bit vulnerable these days…
HASHTAG
EVERY
WINGER
WILL
EVENTUALLY
MATTER
!!!!!!!!
MARCO F-ING PASALIC
!!!!!!!!!
Will post more thoughts later
Can’t wait….
Looking forward to watching some interesting matches tomorrow with Northen Ireland v Germany and Wales v Belgium of great interest to us and the possibility of being in Pot 1?
Ideally wins for NI and Wales would be great, however I don’t think that NI can win against Germany but would not be surprised if Wales gets something from the home match v Belgium.
For the next two qualifiers, I hope Oršić is back on the squad and gets some minutes in one of the matches.
He was obviously a key player in WC 2022. We all complain that we never replaced Mandžukić, but the reality is that our midfielders are not creating great chances for our forwards and not giving them the ball in an area where they can make a run, which is why Petar Musa was been a success for a Boavista and now FC Dallas, but couldn’t get the ball in his few appearances on the National Team.
The media (including Hrvatski) never ask the right questions, so we’ll never know why a stubborn guy like Dalić finally gave serious minutes to Marco P vs the Czech Republic and a start today (regardless of how bad Gibraltar is).
I’d guess Modrić came to him with feedback. This is the same guy who played a whopping 5 minutes in the two qualifiers last month. There is a great story behind this. It’s not like he started playing well for Orlando recently. He’s been scoring bombs for them since March.
He wanted to make an example of guys who move to MLS, that you’ll never get a sniff of the team. Back in June, Marco P wasn’t even on the roster!
If we had Marco and Luka Sučić in the same lineup in the last 30 minutes vs Czech Republic, I doubt the game would have ended 0-0 with two creative guys with speed, great passers and who can also put the ball in the net.
We would have already qualified for the WC and would have been assured of Pot #1. Dalić will always be a hero, but for all of the magnificent things he’s done, his stubbornness on so many things have lost us key games as well.
@Mate1 and MART
https://croatiansports.com/croatia-0-czechia-0-word-cup-qualifier-245pm-et-kickoff/#comments/520527
In my opinion, Matanovic has great technique for someone his size, his hold up play is good and I think he can combine with others in attack better than Budimir. He is also comfortable with both feet. I still retain a bit of hope he will crack the starting eleven at his club. Just last Thu, Freiburg crushed Karlsruher 7-0 in a friendly. Igor opened the scoring and assisted twice. Apparently he played well and there’s a bit of significance to this good performance because Freiburg haven’t won their last 3 matches or scored a goal from open play during the same period. In fact he had a good pre-season and came off the bench to give that MOTM performance vs Stuttgart one month ago. Let’s see if the situation improves for Igor…
I like Matanovic, of all our young forwards he is my favorite but as you say he needs to start playing regularly.
At the very least, Mislav must be installed on the team above Moro or others on the team of Dalic choosing and must definitely be all the field anytime we are going into overtime. He must we part of all future PK shootout efforts. He has ice cold sharp shooting blood coursing thru his veins.
I would’ve liked to see some Dinamo players in there instead of guys like Moro or Fruk who we’re very familiar with already.
Getting Valinčić in there at RB overlapping with Marco Pašalić on the right side at RW.
Get Mišić in as CDM alongside Kova, both playing behind Majer (who himself should only play CAM).
Try a new tall target man up top like Beljo or Kulenović to play with Franjo Ivanović at the LW position.
Sub in a guy like Oršić at LW and Luka Sučić at CAM to try them out in the second half.
Definitely try Luka Vušković and maybe even Prpić to see how they do at CB (instead of constantly forcing Pongračić).
LB is the trickiest. I’d never call back Sosa. Don’t mind that we tried Bradarić. Maybe try out Hrgović for a game, but it seems Gvardiol is our plan B there if Stanišić is ever out.
Yeah LB is definitely the trickiest. I’m resigned to praying that Gvardiol and Stanisic (and all our players for that matter) will stay healthy for the WC.
And yes, we desperately need a backup to Persic at LW. I’m hoping Orsic will continue his good form at Pafos.
Mišić? I don’t see him as National Team material for anybody. He’s a lifelong HNL player similar to Hajduk’s Kronvinović.
Mišić has been excellent in Europa for Dinamo.
Very reliable and defensively capable. He’s probably better than Moro.
I honestly think that Marco Pašalić deserved a couple of goals there along with his assist.
Yes. He must’ve been frustrated.
The next-to-last shot he made from outside the box… dang, if it wasn’t for the Gibraltar goalie pulling off a superb save.
That was a crazy good save
I know it was an easier team and that we were not tested defensively, but Marco Pašalić was fantastic in that game. Definitely the Man of the Match.
It’s unfortunate that he could not put the ball away. I honestly believe he will be as good as Perišić at some point. He needs to continue playing.
To the people saying Ivanović is a disappointment, he bagged two goals in the last game with Gibraltar. He is still young and we need to see how things progress. I think he provides depth, he made a couple of runs and things were unlucky for him.
In the end, this is a good result and the result we needed. Aside from the tie with Czechia the best possible result happened for us today. Faroe beat Czechia and we beat Gibraltar.
Just so im sure, thousands of coaches and scouts all missed M Pasalic? But Dalic is supposed-to be the one to see it? You guys gotta chill
Nobody missed Pašalić.
He was developed by one of the best teams in Europe (Borussia Dortmund) but chose to play for Rijeka as he felt it was the best path for him to get on the Cro National Team and gain even more exposure.
It worked…but he also chose to make more upfront money by signing with Orlando, so he took a risk.
He could’ve easily signed with any of the midtable Bundesliga teams interested in him, but he would have made less money and ended up as a fringe NT player (kinda like Matanović right now).
What makes you say that? Any sources?
Maminjo is an old lady. Always gossiping and throwing out nonsense.
LOL. It’s 2025. Haha. You didn’t hear that opinion equals fact now?
It’s a fact that he was on Borussia Dortmund II.
It’s a fact that he makes more at Orlando than if he just transferred to any midtable European team.
The transfer talk are obviously rumors that you have to go by, but he was about to sign with Verona and play in Serie A right before Orlando swooped and took him. That one was heavily reported and was talked about on this site.
Before Verona, I remember Mainz was also eyeing him. I read they sent people to watch him at that Conference League play-off 2nd leg vs Olimpija Ljubljana in 2024 which Rijeka sadly lost 5-0 and Mainz didn’t follow up on their interest afterwards as you can imagine, lol. If he had not come to the States and stayed in Rijeka until this year’s summer, it’s quite likely some other midtable European team would have gone for him.
This was a lackluster performance by our second 11, or should I say second 10 because Kovacic belongs in the starting 11.
Despite not playing for 5 months and carrying a couple of extra kilos he was our best player along with Marco Pasalic who definitely deserves more playing time.
Marco has a good cross on him and a good shot something that we lacked today from the rest of the players.
Our defence was not tested so difficult to give them marks, however Bradaric was awful in the first half and not much better in the second with his crosses although he did provide the cross for our second goal.
For me Ivanovic and Baturina were the biggest disappointments. Tony F..k did score with a good header, but I’m not convinced that he is national team material just yet?
Majer should stay away from spot kicks, that is the second in a row that he has missed if we include the one, he missed against Spain in the NL Final a couple of years ago.
I think you’re harsh on Ivanović today, but I agree that Baturina was the least impressive player on the field.
Agreed, Never, never let Majer take a penalty shot. He is less reliable than Modric which is saying a lot.
Louver’s Brazil penalty shot just barely got in 3 years ago. We got lucky. Don’t test him again, he is no good.
I know Modric looks and feels shaky but i remember one of the guys (Truth or Maminjo) referring to the stats and he actually scores some incredibly high number of them, even though you might not think so.
well at least now we know why bradaric averages less than 1.5 assists per season.
Majer and Pasalic are good. baturina is irrelevant as expected.
It is time. Luka Sucic, Marco Pasalic, Mislav Orsic, and Luka Vuskovic need to be playing roles moving forward. I think Luka S., Marco and Mislav have proved themselves already.We incorporated Borna, with a lot more shown disloyalty, than Luka S. Sucic and Pasalic proved themselves today. We already know what we have with Mislav. This could have been Vuskovic’s coming out day. Believe the evidence and our eyes.
Could there be a place Musa
Could there be a place for musa
I doubt it, at least for right now. But according to Dalic Boone is off the list.
No one is off the list I mean.
Vušković should have started vs Gibraltar. The fact that he was moved off means Zlatko already has his mind made up that DCC is going to be in the middle in the World Cup.
If that’s the case, our backline will be shredded like it was in the Euro’s. We never replaced Lovren/Vida. Yeah, we’ve given up only one goal in the qualifiers, but this is the easiest group we’ve ever had.
If Guardiol isn’t moved back to the middle and paired with either Erlić or Šutalo, we’ll be killed back there, as Vušković has zero chance of starting in the World Cup.
Kovacic looks in the best shape of his career. Majer was all over the field and won virtually every ball. He should be in the midfield where he can better create chances. Good to see how much Erlic cares.
Lessons from the match:
1. Marco Pašalić should start at RW, and based on the team’s strategy at the beginning of the match running every play through him and then a lot of plays once the veterans came on, it looks like he might from now on.
2. Majer is an excellent player and should start so that we never have to see him take a penalty for Croatia again. Dalić gave him a low-pressure chance to have a shot at finally making a PK for Croatia, and he took a bad one once again. That was specifically to test Majer because the other guys on the field can all score from the spot pretty reliably (probably even the CBs).
3. Fruk scored a solid goal but is not on the same level of play as the rest of the team. He should be replaced by a central striker on the roster.
4. Baturina may need more time to get on the level of the rest of the team.
5. Bradarić could be useful in situations where Croatia needs to score a goal. He combined really well with the other players on the field throughout.
6. Croatia needs to play with a true #9. Ivanović is more effective as a winger.
Agree with all of this. Marco Pasalic and Majer were both excellent today. Kovacic in form will be a big boost for us but create a dilemma for Dalic as he will want to play a 4-3-3 again and feel like he needs to play Krama on the right and not Marco Pasalic.
I’m not sold on Baturina, same with Fruk. Maybe it’s lack of playing time but Baturina was invisible. Bradaric has speed but his crossing wasn’t there today. All in all, we got the job done and are virtually a lock.
I can’t remember if we’ve ever qualified with two games left! Vuskovic needs to play in both of the next two games with Sutalo.
(I know it’s not official but the likelihood of losing the next two and giving up the massive goal difference is almost impossible).
Marco, was excellent like we all predicted.
Anyone else notice the wheels on Bradaric? I thought he played a good game.
Pong is a mess, can’t understand the love.
Baturina, looks like he’s been smoking on the bench with Prosinečki, he’s got no 2nd gear. Slow and zero stamina. I really don’t think you can teach speed.
Lovren and Kova looked great but what happened to his shin pads?
The team hid his shin pads until he scores a PK.
I rather we win it hard by winning last 2 games to fight for pot 1..there seems to be complacency with NT now with just a 3-0 victory given they are more or less guaranteed with WC qualification. This may screw us with tough montenegro and faroe islands games..
Yeah, pretty much qualified. Czechs would need something like a 10-0 win over Gibraltar and have Croatia lose to both Faroe Islands and Montenegro by a combined 5 goals at least. I would say they are unofficially the first European team to qualify because they are the only team mathematically guaranteed at least a tie for first place in points, but the possibility of the above scenarios in the remaining games is pretty much zero.
Pasalic just killing it today
Zlatko should be embarrassed it took this long to start him.
Trying to make a point about guys playing in MLS, but he’s started HNL guys.
It wasn’t about MLS.
It goes back to when the media was calling him out during the Euro2024 for sticking with his predetermined starting lineup, and refusing to play Marco (despite our starters creating zero width).
Dalić has an ego problem, and hopefully he has laid this Pašalić issue to rest and we now have a true winger (at least off the bench, since we’re still going to see Krama and Perišić as our predetermined wingers at the World Cup). All we can really hope for is that Dalić plays the correct Pašalić on the wing when he makes a sub.
I thought today would be a wasted game, but I’m glad Marco played such an aggressive game.
Hopefully he gets to start at RW in the two November games.
I would LOVE to see Valinčić behind him at RB.
Hopefully this is the eye opener Dalic needs to see what Pasalic offers as a winger. Majer looked good today as well. Baturina, not so much.
Pitch is terrible not helping our passing. But we need to calm down here. These matches are often very difficult to win by big scores. Even the biggest and best teams and players struggle to break the bunker. I’m enjoying seeing pasalic baturina and the others getting minutes in the shirt, it’s good for them. Just enjoy it!
Marco Pasalic crosses the ball and Fruk heads it in for 1-0
Let’s be honest…Fruk may be great in HNL, but has nothing with his chances on the National Team.
I guess he heard you.
He just scored… But he made a lot of mistakes this game prior to this goal.
Agreed
Fruk cranks the ball 40 feet above the goal with the ball dropping to him when he’s 10 feet in front of goal. Haha.
I never understand why people need to crank it from this distance. Just get it on goal and its pretty much in.
My guess in possession something like 3-4-3
Moro-Pong-Erlic
Baturina-Kova-Majer-Bradaric
Marco-Franjo-Fruk
Marco cuts in Bati overlaps
Fruk cuts in Bradaric overlaps
Any links? Please 🙏🏻
LINK
https://sports100.tv/
Thanks
What the heck, Faroes beat the Czechs ! Oh well we are pretty secure then i guess, bit of a surprise that result, tho they were a pain in the arse for us too.
A victory today pretty much secured things given our goal differential. The Pasalic at RB is a pointless exercise with only two true defenders (Bradaric is more of a wingback). I get we are going to face a bunker but realistically we would never use this formation against anyone else.
I saw the WC ranking points on another comment a few days ago. Are Croatia destined to be a Pot 2 with the draw the other day? Or is there a small chance of the other top 9 teams messing up and Croatia make it into the top 9?
We need Italy to remain second… and we need one of Germany or Belgium to screw up.
In detail:
We need Italy to finish behind Norway (which is pretty much a guarantee).
… AND
We need Germany to screw up and lose points to a team in their final three games (unlikely, but is most likely to happen in Northern Ireland tomorrow).
…OR
We need Belgium to finish second behind one of Wales or Macedonia (which is possible if Belgium loses points in Wales tomorrow).
We should know after tomorrow’s games how realistic our chances are in being a Pot 1 team.
Thank you for the detailed breakdown!
I am just curious, don’t Croatia want to win every game to get into Pot 1 for WC draw? Why mess around with starting XI?
So instead of playing Marco Pašalić as a winger he is being utilized as a defender?? Is this really the lineup?
There has to be a mistake
A win tonight officially sends Croatia to the world cup. Other than getting a win against the Czechs, this could not have worked out much better for us. The lineup Dalić has put out is definitely, definitely going to score goals and could end this thing in the first 30 minutes. Those players are out there to get lots of touches on the ball and find the back of the net. In the second half, Dalić can bring on Smolčić at RB and move Marco up to the wing. He can try Jakić or Perišić at LB. He can give Luka Sučić some minutes. Etc. This means we basically get three training matches between now and the end of qualifying. He’ll have two full matches in which he could potentially finally play Vušković and try out the other strikers again. At least we can hope.
Is it official? I dont think it is. We could lose our last 2 games 10-0 and Czechs could win their last game 10-0 and pass us on goal diff. Not saying its realistic but i mean we wont be “officially” qualified yet.
You’re right. It’s not official. My mistake. I was thinking that there’s no way Czechia can surpass us in goal differential. I guess it’s theoretically possible, but I don’t see it happening. Anyway, an important two results from this international break.
I want to see Majer start and play most if not the entire game. The flow of our offense is so much better when he is on the pitch. He creates chances.
Love the line-up!
So many fresh faces.
Won’t watch live so will be a delay in commentary.
Sorry.
Hopefully it works Andorra 2-2 Latvia yesterday – yikes!
Love the line-up!
So many fresh faces.
Won’t watch live so will be a delay in commentary.
Sorry.
Hopefully it works Andorra 2-2 Latvia yesterday – yikes!
Faroes are coming for Croatia
I think Dalić is the most stubborn person I heard of. This Marco situation/winger situation is… infuriating
Full time
Faroes 2 v Czechia 1
Great result meaning win tonight against Gibraltar and we can start experimenting in the last two matches by giving some new players a go i.e. Valincic, Lisica, Vuskovic etc.
2 – 1 for Faroes after a huge defensive mistake in the 81 minute.
Am I reading this right….Marco Pasalic at RB? Rakija must have been flowing in the coaches meeting if that’s the case.
He did play there as a cover for someone in the final minutes of one previous match if I remember correctly. Can’t remember which one, but I remember he was there and did well.
It’s still a pointless experiment since we’d never use him there in a tournament as it’s absolutely not his position.
Even if he did impress there today, it would just be chalked off as a good performance against inferior competition.
Dalić did previously use Brekalo as a RB in a tournament when chasing the game, so I don’t think it’s totally pointless. Also, Gibraltar basically had no attack the last time, so this will be like playing without wide backs. Pašalić and Bradarić will be playing as wingers with a crowded midfield hexagon
Czechia 1 – 1 in the 78th minute.
Faroes 1 – 0 in the 67minute.
Good counter attack. Hopefully they can hang on.
FAROE ISLANDS 1 – 0 CZECHIA
In other news, why on EARTH is Marco Pasalic starting at right back today?
What needs to happen for this guy to start in his natural position for the NT? So, so, so frustrating.
HT Faroes 0 v Czechia 0
Watching this match, Czechia with two good chances in the 42 and 45 minute.
They should have scored in the 42 minute.
No real chances for Faroes so far apart from a few corners and long throw ins into the box.