October 15, 2024 – Croatia and Poland finished 3-3 in Warsaw in the fourth round of the UEFA Nations League.
It was certainly one of the craziest matches Croatia has played in the last few years. Poland took the early lead, and Croatia made it 3-1 with back-to-back goals in the first half. But that didn’t stop Poland from coming back, and Dominik Livaković’s exclusion did not help. Fortunately, Croatia managed to get a point.
Croatia thus failed to secure a place in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Nations League but remains in second place with three points more than Poland and three less than Portugal. In November, Zlatko Dalić’s team plays at home against Portugal and away against Scotland.
Match report
The match had a shaky start for Croatia. Poland took the lead in the fifth minute with a goal from Piotr Zielinski. Poland played the right side of Croatia’s defense, and Zielinski shot with his left foot. The ball touched Martin Erlić on the way to the goal and ended up in the net for 1-0.
However, after 15 minutes with Poland in the lead, six wild minutes followed. It all started with a phenomenal goal by Borna Sosa in the 20th minute. Poland blocked Luka Modrić’s free-kick cross, but Sosa was the first to the ball and hit an undefended shot from 18 meters to make it 1-1.
Already in the 24th minute, Croatia came to a turning point. Petar Sučić and Martin Baturina played a nice one-two, and Sučić scored his first goal for Croatia with his left foot for 2-1.
Only two minutes later, the same two players led Croatia to the third goal. Sučić took advantage of Pawel Dawidowicz’s mistake and set up the ball for Baturina, who remained calm and also scored his first goal for the Croatia national team. In the 29th minute, Martin Erlić had a great chance, but shot over the goal from the edge of the penalty area.
Croatia’s two-goal advantage did not last until halftime. In the 45th minute, Zielinski cleverly won the ball in a duel with Modrić and passed it to Zalewski, who brought Poland back to life with a precise shot for 2-3. By the end of the half, Livaković saved a great chance from Jakub Kaminski.
Croatia opened the second half better and created several good chances. Modrić’s shot in the 55th minute was stopped by an excellent save from the keeper. Six minutes later, he also saved Ante Budimir’s header from close range.
Poland took advantage of Croatia’s mistakes and tied the score at 3-3 in the 68th minute. Robert Lewandowski, who entered the game six minutes earlier, fought off Erlić and played Sebastian Szymanski, who scored with an excellent shot to equalize.
The already chaotic match reached its climax in the 76th minute when Livaković received a direct red card. Ivan Perišić sent him a short pass. After clearing the ball, he carelessly collided with Lewandowski, and referee Alejandro Hernandez sent him off. Croatia was down to 10 players on the pitch.
Despite having a man down, Croatia managed to play well in the defense until the end of the game and ultimately took home one point from this match.
Croatia plays their last two games in November, first on November 15th against Scotland, and three days later against Portugal in Split. The first two national teams will qualify for the quarterfinals.
