Real Madrid’s star failed to make an impact on Thursday, and France’s centre-backs struggled to contain Croatia’s attacking threat as the hosts secured a dominant 2-0 victory in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final.
France now face a daunting challenge to reach the Nations League semi-finals after a convincing defeat to Croatia on Thursday evening. The match could have taken an early turn in the visitors’ favor, but goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved Andrej Kramaric’s tame penalty in the eighth minute. Despite this early setback, Croatia went ahead 18 minutes later when Ante Budimir’s header slipped past Maignan from Ivan Perisic’s precise cross.
The French side struggled to create meaningful opportunities throughout the match, and just before halftime, Croatia doubled their lead. Perisic struck a powerful shot from 15 yards, sending it into the bottom corner and leaving France with a steep hill to climb.
In the second half, France showed some signs of life. Ousmane Dembele first forced Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic into a save, and then sent a shot just wide of the target. Substitute Bradley Barcola also had a prime opportunity to reduce the deficit but failed to connect with Matteo Guendouzi’s inviting cross across the six-yard box.
While Kylian Mbappe occasionally showed glimpses of his brilliance, his moments were far too infrequent in front of a passionate home crowd in Split. Didier Deschamps’ side will need a much-improved performance in the second leg on Sunday if they are to turn this quarter-final around and keep their hopes of advancing alive.
