Croatia vs Montenegro Prediction and Betting Tips

The action continues in Group L of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Croatia play host to Montenegro on Monday. Zlatko Dalic’s men have enjoyed a 100% winning run in the campaign and could move top of the group standings with a win at Stadion Maksimir.

Andrej Kramaric’s 31st-minute strike was enough to fire Croatia to a hard-fought victory over the Faroe Islands at the Torsvollur on Friday. Dalic’s side have won each of their three matches in the World Cup qualifiers, scoring an impressive 13 goals and conceding just once so far.

Croatia are now back on home soil, where they have won all but one of their last six competitive matches, with a 1-1 draw against Portugal in November 2024 being the exception.

Montenegro, on the other hand, failed to return to winning ways in the World Cup qualifiers at the weekend, when they fell to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Czechia.

Before that, Robert Prosinecki’s men picked up consecutive victories over Gibraltar and the Faroe Islands to start the campaign before suffering a 2-0 loss against Czechia at the Doosan Arena in June.

With six points from four matches, Montenegro are currently third in the Group L standings, six points behind first-place Czechia and three behind Croatia, who have one game in hand.

Croatia vs Montenegro Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

Croatia and Montenegro have never met in the past, and both sides will be looking to begin their head-to-head record on a positive note.
Croatia are unbeaten in five of their last six games across all competitions, picking up four wins and one draw since November 2024.
Montenegro have lost each of their most recent six competitive matches on the road, stretching back to a 2-2 draw with Lithuania in September 2023.
Croatia are on a run of six straight competitive home games without defeat, picking up five wins and one draw since a 1-0 loss against Turkey in October 2023.

Croatia vs Montenegro Prediction

While Montenegro have enjoyed a decent qualifying campaign so far, they need to improve their results on the road, where they have lost their last six games.

Croatia boast a superior and more experienced squad on paper, and we are tipping them to secure maximum points in front of their home supporters.

Prediction: Croatia 3-0 Montenegro

Croatia vs Montenegro Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Croatia to win

Tip 2: Over 10.5 corners - Yes (There have been at least 11 corner kicks in six of Croatia’s last seven matches)

Tip 3: First-half winners - Croatia (Dalic's men have led at halftime in four of their last five games)

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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