France and Croatia met for the second leg of the Nations League quarter-finals at Stade de France on Sunday.
Croatia had the advantage going into the match after winning 2-0 at Poljud on Thursday thanks to goals by Ante Budimir and Ivan Perišić. The winner of the quarter-finals goes on to the Nations League Finals, which Croatia played in 2023. Croatia lost to Spain in the final match on penalties.
Coach Zlatko Dalić made only one change in today’s lineup, swapping Petar Sučić for Baturina. France, on the other hand, made many changes – most notably going out with four forwards.
Before the match, France officially said goodbye to Olivier Giroud who recently retired. The send-off was a spectacle, full of pyrotechnics and an incredible firework display shooting out of
Lineups
France: Maignan – Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez – Kone, Tchouameni – Dembele, Olise, Mbappe – Barcola
Croatia: Livaković – Stanišić, Šutalo, Ćaleta-Car, Gvardiol – Sučić, Kovačić – Perišić, Modrić, Kramarić – Budimir
Match report
France had the first attack already in the first minute, giving the Croatia defense a quick scare. A corner kick followed just after and Kane’s shot ended over Livakovic’s goal.
Another close France encounter happened in the 8th minute which was cleared out by Gvardiol for a corner. France came out with high intensity and high pressing.
A foul was called for Croatia in the 10th minute just outside the box, but Luka’s cross was no problem for the France defense.
Croatia had an excellent attack in the 12th minute after Kova intercepted the ball. Sucic and Budimir played up the left wing and Luka’s idea for a through ball fell short.
France was relentless, with two corners and a dangerous chance from Mbappe in the 14th minute. Perisic cleared out another shot for a corner the next minute.
Croatia finally had a chance to move up into France’s half in the 18th minute, though it was shortlived. France called for a penalty in the 21st minute but referee Michael Oliver said to play on.
Mbappe had another chance in the 27th minute – and Croatia was constantly having to defend.
Croatia finally started attacking from the 28th minute, but France defended well. Another dangerous free kick for them ended over Livakovic’s goal.
Livakovic masterfully saved a shot by Barcola in the 38th minute and a quick France corner followed.
The first half ended with 67% possession to France and only 33% to Croatia. France also had 12 total shots, 1 on target, and 6 corners to Croatia’s 0. Croatia could not continue to defend in the second half as they did in the first.
There were no changes on either side to start the second half.
France had their first dangerous opportunity with a free kick just outside the box in the 51st minute. Olise shot it perfectly into the goal, leaving no chance for Livakovic to save it. It was 1-0 France with a 2-1 aggregate for Croatia.
Perisic took a chance at goal in the 58th minute but shot wide.
Dalic made his first sub in th 59th minute – Budimir came off for Ivanovic.
In the following minute, another close call came for Croatia when Tchoumeni missed the goal.
Deschmaps made his first sub in the 65th minute – Barcola came off for Doue.
Ivanovic had a nice run up the left wing in the 68th minute but misread his ball to Sucic. And then another Fance free kick outside the box was cleared out by Sutalo.
Dalic subbed off Perisic for Pasalic, and Kramaric for Baturina in the 70th.
France received a corner in the 73rd minute which was initially cleaed out by by the Croatia defense. The ball ultimately found Saliba who shot over the goal. And Mbappe just missed the goal in the 75th.
There were another three corners for France in the 76th minute.
It was impossible to think that France wouldn’t get another goal, and it came from Dembele in the 80th.
Dalic subbed off Modric for Moro and Kova for Jakic in the 81st minute.
Another corner for France in the 85th minute resulted in another dangerous free kick.
Five minutes of stoppage time were added, and France got another corner. The game went into extra time.
France had yet another dangerous free kick at the start of extra time.
Two incredible chances for France followed and Livakovic saved the day again to keep Croatia in the game.
Deschamps subbed off Dembele for Kolo Muani in the 98th minute.
Croatia was starting to work their way up into France’s half but their defense was too solid.
The first half of extra time finished 2-0 for France. Another 30 minutes were ahead of us.
Dalic subbed off Gvardiol for Pograncic and Deschamps gained fresh legs by bringing on Camavinga.
Livakovic incredibly saved a one-on-one with Mbappe in the 108th minute. Kone was subbed off for Emry in the 111th.
Another Mbappe shot was saved by Livakovic – and Croatia stayed in it, however with no attacking game to see. Croatia’s defense was playing the game of their lives.
And the game went to penalties.
Penalty shootout
Baturina was up first for Croatia, which Maignan saved.
Mbappe was next up to score for 1-0 France.
Moro stepped up next for Croatia to score for 1-1.
Tchouameni scored next for France – 2-1.
Ivanovic was next for Croatia, who shot over the goal.
Kounde missed for France to keep Croatia in the game.
Pasalic scored for 2-2.
Kolo Muani scored next for France – 3-2.
Jakic was up next for Croatia to score for 3-3.
Hernandez missed the next one to keep Croatia in it.
Caleta-Car was next to score for 4-3 Croatia.
Doue scored the next one and then Stanisic was up and missed.
France just needed to score the next one to move on to the Nations League Finals.
Upamecano stepped up to score and France knocked out Croatia of the Nations League.
