November 15, 2024 – Who would Croatia be if things didn’t get complicated? A 10-man Croatia side lost to Scotland in Glasgow on Friday and missed out on securing their spot in the quarter-finals of the Nations League. Instead, it’ll all come down to the final round against Portugal on Monday.
Croatia and Scotland met in the fifth round of the UEFA Nations League in Glasgow on Friday. It was Croatia’s chance to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.
But advancing in the Nations League was not all Croatia had to play for tonight. Let’s not forget that the first two spots in the group ensure the status of top seeds in the 2026 World Cup qualifications. Croatia was in an excellent position to secure one of those two places tonight, and a win against Scotland would have guaranteed it.
But as we already know, the easy route is never how it goes.
Lineups
Croatia: Kotarski – Jakić, Šutalo, Ćaleta-Car, Gvardiol – Modrić, Kovačić, L. Sučić, P. Sučić, Baturina – Kramarić
Scotland: Gordon – Robertson, Hanley, Souttar, Ralston – McLean, Gilmour, Christie, McTominay, Doak – Conway
Before the match, coach Zlatko Dalić announced that Dominik Kotarski would defend in goal instead of Livaković, who had to miss the match against Scotland due to a red card in the last round.
Match report
What can we say about the first half, which was dictated by questionable reffing.
Croatia had a fairly large advantage in the first half and created several good opportunities, while Scotland mainly focused on counter attacks. Kramarič and Sučić had the most chances in the first 45 minutes but nothing could find the back of the net.
Not only did Croatia fail to take advantage of any of their opportunities, but at the end of the first half, they experienced a shock when Petar Sučić was sent off for his second yellow. Croatia had to play with 10 men for the entire second half.
The second half started without any changes. Scotland had a lot of energy and an attacking game. They aimed to take advantage of having an extra man on the pitch.
Dalić made his first two subs in the 65th minute – Pašalić and Perišić entered for Kramarić and Luka Sučić.
Croatia’s best chance of the game came in the 74th minute. Modrić intercepted the ball in the midfield and pressed through the center, laying off a brilliant ball to Pašalić who was one-on-one with the keeper. Pašalić misread the keeper and shot wide. The game remained 0-0.
Nikola Vlašić was subbed on for Baturina in the 75th minute.
At this point, Portugal was beating Poland 3-0, and Croatia just needed to hold onto 0-0 to secure their spot in the next round. But the next minute, Scotland scored for 1-0, and alas, things got complicated.
Five minutes of injury time were added, but Croatia was unable to equalize, and the match ended 1-0 for Scotland.
Croatia will meet Portugal on Monday in Split in the final round of the Nations League. A draw would be enough to send Croatia through to the next round – and we don’t want to go into any other calculations.
