Despite the presence of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, Croatia are in the driving seat for a UEFA Nations League semi-final place after claiming a 2-0 win over France on Thursday night.
Andrej Kramaric saw a penalty saved by Mike Maignan within the opening 10 minutes as it appeared Croatia would endure a long evening, except it was the highly-favoured French team that had such evening.
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Ante Budimir put the Croats ahead after 26 minutes as he met a cross by Ivan Perisic with a header which sent the ball spinning into the net off the France goalkeeper.
Perisic went from provider to goalscorer on the stroke of half-time with a shot into the bottom corner to seal a win which leaves Les Bleus with a mountain to climb in next week’s return leg.
Elsewhere in the Nations League, Mikel Merino’s stoppage time goal earned Spain a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Netherlands, while Germany came away from Italy with a 2-1 win and Denmark handed Portugal a shock 1-0 loss.