Shortly after the draw which revealed the opponent of the French team in the quarter-finals of the Nations League, Didier Deschamps reacted to the media of the French Football Federation. His players will face Croatia in a double confrontation on March 20 and 23, 2025. An opponent that the French coach and his team know well and have had to face several times in recent years.
“We know each other well, we have met often since 2018,” said the former Marseillais, with a smile on his lips. Last year, they were in the same group in the Nations League so we know what to expect with a Croatian team which has a great generation and which has still maintained itself at a very high level since 2018. »
Croatia is in fact one of the French team's regular opponents. Zlatko Dalić's men, four years after the coronation in the final of the 2018 World Cup, had manhandled Kylian Mbappé's partners, held in check there (1-1) before losing at the Stade de France (0-1 ) in the Nations League group, in 2022.
“It’s a good team with excellent players: Modric, Gvardiol who plays for Manchester City, Kramaric and many others. We will have to prepare for it. I hope we will get closer to the semi-finals, that will be the objective,” his assistant Guy Stéphan simply commented.
With the new formula of the League of Nations, and the appearance of the two-legged quarter-finals, the situation has changed for the selections. By finishing first in its group after its brilliant victory against Italy at San Siro (1-3), France had the luxury of hosting in the return match. An auspicious context, according to Didier Deschamps.
“It is not a disadvantage to play the return match at home, even if it is over two matches. Obviously, the first can condition the second, but it is rather a very nice thing to have this return match at the Stade de France,” rejoiced the coach of the Blues since 2012.
This will very likely be the first match for the French team in “normal” conditions at the Stade de France since the victory of the French players against Greece in June 2023 for the Euro 2024 qualifiers (1- 0). The Blues faced Israel in the Dionysian enclosure a few weeks ago (0-0), but the meeting was marked by a context of tension linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Only 16,600 people showed up in the stands.
