On Monday (June 6), a reshuffled France drew 1-1 away to Croatia in their second Nations League encounter, four days after losing to Denmark. The defending champions took the lead early in the second half thanks to Adrien Rabiot’s goal, but the hosts deservedly drew thanks to Andrej Kramaric’s late penalty.
World champions France were missing Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema from the start as coach Didier Deschamps made ten changes to the team that lost 2-1 to Denmark on Friday. After missing Friday’s game against Denmark due to his father’s passing, Deschamps was back on the bench.
“Considering all of the modifications, we did a good job.” “It’s a pity we gifted them the equaliser since we were ahead and could have scored more,” Deschamps said, insisting that France’s purpose was to prepare for the World Cup. “However, it was a well-coordinated performance.” In the second half, they rarely threatened. The result is unsatisfactory, and despite the fact that it was a difficult game, our goal is to prepare for (the World Cup) at the end of the year.”
Croatia looked the most dangerous early on, but Nkunku’s goal was disallowed for offside as France began to threaten on the break after the half-hour mark. Les Bleus heaped pressure on Croatia’s left flank, and Moussa Diaby came close shortly before the break, but Dominik Livakovic parried Aurelien Tchouameni’s furious effort.
In the 52nd minute, France were rewarded for their good intentions when Rabiot gathered a through ball from Wissam Ben Yedder and scored his second international goal with a low drive. However, in the 83rd minute, replacement Jonathan Clauss took Kramaric down in the box, and the striker converted the penalty by wrongfooting Mike Maignan.
Five minutes from time, Kramaric threatened again, but Maignan made a crucial stop to save a point. On Friday, France will travel to Austria before hosting Croatia the following Monday.