It’s the worst-case scenario for Croatia at EURO 2024: bottom of Group B heading into their last game, needing to beat Italy on Monday to reach the knockout stages.
[ MORE: EURO 2024 schedule | EURO 2024 squads ]
In the 165th minute of the tournament, Croatia was defeated 3-0 by Spain and lost to Albania 1-0, with just 15 minutes left in game no. 2. They didn’t show up in Germany and deserved to go home. Then came two goals in two minutes. Then came Albania’s equalizer in the 95th minute. Back to square one, where they need three points against the current European champions in Leipzig.
How to watch Croatia x Italybroadcast link and start time
Start: Monday (June 24), 3 p.m. ET
Stadium: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
How to watch on TV in the US: Fox Sports
Croatian national team news, focus
To their credit, Croatia took the game to Albania in the second half (2.42 xG) after waking up from a half-time nightmare (0.26 xG). No player who played at EURO 2024 has any doubts about his availability on Monday.
Italian national team news, focus
It’s not that Italy themselves were world champions at EURO 2024. They beat Albania 2-1 in their debut, but they weren’t exactly convincing and were comfortably second best in a 1-0 defeat to Spain. Croatia are certainly available and a dominant performance would go a long way towards restoring confidence and belief in the Azzurra camping. Winger Federico Dimarco, who has played 173 of the 180 minutes so far, is a doubt with a calf injury against Spain.
Croatia vs Italy Prediction
Unless some energy and life is injected into the center of midfield, Croatia will find precious scoring chances against the Italian defense. Croatia 0-1 Italy.
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