After two difficult results, Croatia are on the verge of being eliminated from the Group stage of the 2024 European Championship. Being part of the difficult, Group B, the Croats were slotted alongside European giants Spain and Italy and Albania. This year’s Euro is also special for Croatia as it could be Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric’s last major international tournament.
But despite having a well-rounded squad, the Vatreni suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat against Spain in their tournament opener. Then in their second encounter, Croatia had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Albania. Now Modric and Co. will be hoping to get a positive result in their last group game of the tournament.
How Croatia can qualify for UEFA Euro 2024 Round of 16?
Now the Croats must win and defeat Italy to advance to the Round of 16 as the runner-up from Group B while Albania must settle for a draw or loss against Spain. Croatia can also advance as a runner-up if they defeat Italy and Albania takes down Spain. But the Vatreni would need a better goal difference. They can also advance as a third-place team if they have a worse goal difference, but would need to win one of the third-place tiebreakers.
Everything can happen: Andrej Kramaric after 2-2 Albania draw
After their draw against Albania, veteran Andrej Kramaric spoke about how Croatia can complete the turnaround if they play well against Italy. He said, “This is why everyone loves football.”
“In the last seconds, sometimes you score a goal to win, sometimes you concede. We know that the game with Spain is very difficult but in football everything is possible. If we will play like today everything can happen,” he continued.