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It was the second meeting of the two FIFA World Cup 2018 finalists since their historic night in Russia as France travelled to the Stadion Maksimir to face off with Croatia.
This Nations League encounter was a follow-up to their previous meeting in September, which France won by a relatively comfortable scoreline of 4-2. Tonight's win, however, was far from comfortable from Les Bleus' point of view.
The visitors raced to an early lead after Barcelona superstar Antoine Griezmann pulled the trigger to launch a rocket of a strike past a helpless Dominik Livakovic as the ball smashed into the crossbar before heading into the goal.
France were comfortable in possession in the first half, but the second 45 minutes had a different complexion to it.
Croatia turned up the heat after the restart and pinned France into their half and played with immense purpose, coming close to scoring on more than a few occasions. The hosts drew a few smart saves out of French captain Hugo Lloris restored parity after a stunning 68th minute-finish from Nikola Vlasic, which came as a result of some intelligent work from Luka Modric and co.
Ultimately, the visitors stole their lead back with two majestic passes — the first from Paul Pogba, and the follow-up from Lucas Digne — to set up Kylian Mbappe's 79th-minute winner.
This win takes France level on points with Portugal at ten apiece, setting up an explosive encounter in Portugal next month.
Here, we take a look at the major talking points from the game as Didier Deschamps' men registered a crucial 2-1 win over Croatia.
#5 Croatia's alarming lack of clean sheets since the World Cup final
Zlatko Dalic's men built a reputation for themselves as one of the most exciting underdog sides to watch for a neutral, particularly after their exploits at the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. However, ever since reaching their first-ever World Cup final, they have struggled more often than not.
This is particularly applicable to their defence, which has struggled significantly in the recent past. In the ongoing Nations League campaign, they have failed to keep even one clean sheet in their four games, and in fact, conceded four goals on two separate occasions, albeit against the reigning world champions and the reigning Euro and Nations League champions.
If that isn't enough evidence, there's more where that came from.
Since their historic World Cup final against tonight's opponents in Russia, 2018, the Vatreni have managed an astonishingly low tally of three (!) shut outs in 20 appearances in all competitions, including international friendlies. These came against England, Slovakia, and Hungary. The last of which, against Marco Rossi's Hungary, was almost exactly a year ago today.
Despite the loss of key players, particularly that of World Cup hero Danijel Subasic, Dalic has a herculean task at hand — to shore up an extremely porous defence ahead of the upcoming Euro campaign.
#4 An apparent weakness in a golden French generation
Apart from being arguably the best international side in football, it's no secret that France, in terms of depth, are undisputedly at the pinnacle of the sport. The champions have a ridiculous amount of talent to call upon, enough to fill more than two entire XIs from top to bottom.
However, if there is one spot where Les Bleus fall short, it is perhaps at right-back.
First-choice right-back Benjamin Pavard was given a much-needed rest after playing a few back-to-back games and putting in an admirable shift against Cristiano Ronaldo in their previous game. Since Leo Dubois had to return to France due to COVID-19, Deschamps was forced to use left-back Ferland Mendy on the right.
Even the versatile Pavard, who was the go-to right-back during France's victorious World Cup campaign, played 28 of his 36 games in the 2017/18 campaign at centre-back, before being converted into an out-and-out full-back after his 2018 heroics.
The veteran manager also experimented with Moussa Sissoko on the right, further highlighting a lack of depth in this area of the pitch.
Although Leo Dubois is another option up their sleeve, the depth on the right pales in comparison to that of the left, as they have the likes of Lucas Digne, Ferland Mendy, Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Mendy, among other options to call upon. Their depth in central defence is a whole another story, as they have nearly ten centre-backs to choose from, including the uncapped yet exciting Jules Kounde.
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#3 Croat icon Luka Modric makes his presence felt
When these two sides previously met earlier in September at the Stade de France, the visitors could have felt hard done by as the 4-2 scoreline was perhaps a bit too harsh given the context of the game. However, their display at the Stadion Maksimir was a significantly improved one, and much of that has to do with the return of Luka Modric.
The majestic Real Madrid man was calm in possession and brought a sense of control and poise to Zlatko Dalic's midfield. Starting deeper in midfield alongside Milan Baldej, the captain kept the play ticking for the hosts, and played some exquisite defence-splitting passes in the second half to help Croatia stamp their authority on the game.
The 35-year-old Croatian metronome completed more passes than anyone on the pitch (90) and completed more long balls than anyone bar Mateo Kovacic, constantly finding his teammates from deep areas. His ability to resist the French press with his silky control was simply superb.
Although his side ended up on the losing side of the encounter, Modric — on his 130th (!) appearance for the Vatreni — put up a memorable display on the night.
The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner also played a vital role in his side's only goal of the game after a superb run to find Josip Brekalo with an arrowed ball, who set up Nikola Vlasic for the equaliser. Dalic will hope that his eventual retirement will be eased by one of their other stars rising to the occasion taking over the mantle of their greatest player.
#2 Record-chasing Griezmann on target once again
Antoine Griezmann's first season at Barcelona was rather anti-climactic, to say the least. The French superstar was used out of position, and even dropped in favour of in-form Blaugrana wonderkid Ansu Fati. His omission from the XI for their quarter-final humiliation against Bayern Munich pretty much summed up his campaign.
However, regardless of whatever happened on the domestic front, Didier Deschamps has never once considered replacing him as the talismanic leader of the Les Bleus attack, and Griezmann continues to repay his faith in him. Time and again, the flamboyant 29-year-old comes in clutch for Deschamps, supplying goals, assists, and moments of magic aplenty for his country.
Today was no different as just eight minutes into the game, Griezmann pulled out a stunning finish from inside the box which rattled the crossbar on the way into the Vatreni's goal. It was his fourth goal for France in six games and his 33rd for his country in 83 appearances, nine shy of his teammate Olivier Giroud.
He is also the second-highest assist provider for France in the 21st century with 21 to his name, and is four away from overtaking Thierry Henry.
Another record that Griezmann is closing in on is that for the most consecutive caps earned by a French footballer. Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira currently holds the record with 44 successive caps, and tonight — Griezmann's 38th such appearance — leaves him just six shy of another milestone.
His display against Croatia was another timely reminder of why Deschamps, France's most decorated coach, places such an enormous amount of trust in his star man.
#1 A familiar story as French quality ultimately proved too much for Vatreni
Another game, another loss for theVatreni at the hands of Les Bleus. Beyond the realms of personnel and tactics, there are some sides that particular teams always tend to have a hard time facing, and that is exactly what France is to Croatia. Granted that this era is one blessed with immense talent for both sides, but France have historically had the upper hand over the hosts.
So much so, that Croatia have never managed a win against Les Bleus in their history. They've faced each other on eight separate occasions — five times across three different competitions and thrice in friendlies — spanning all the way back to 1998, and have managed to register just two draws, losing a staggering six times.
Even today, at the Stadion Maksimir, Croatia turned up the afterburners in the second half and created a plethora of chances to put the world champions under a considerable amount of pressure. The goal from Vlasic came as a result of Croatia stretching the pitch and finding spaces on the sides of a narrow French XI, and the finish was nothing short of sublime.
However, all their hard work was undone by one magnificent long ball from second-half substitute Paul Pogba, bypassing the whole Croatian side to find Everton's Lucas Digne. The full-back expertly set up Mbappe with a delightful touch, and the PSG star didn't need an invitation to slot it past Dominik Livakovic.
France were admittedly poor in the second half, and Croatia would feel hard done by, but Les Bleus displayed once again why they are the reigning world champions.
Also read: 10 Biggest Ballon d'Or wins in football history
