We enjoy another round of international friendly matches with some big-name teams in action. There’s plenty to catch your eye, including a clash from the Estadio Nacional where Portugal hosts Croatia. Saturday’s game is a friendly in name only as two potential winners of Euro 2024 aim to collect a timely win before preparing to board a plane to Germany. Which nation will secure the desired result in a fixture you can follow live on television? Keep reading for our in-depth preview, stats, form, and predictions.
The Portuguese are former winners of the UEFA European Championship, and the current squad believes it’s good enough to relive the glory days by delivering the Euro 2024 trophy. Winning in Germany will be no mean feat, but the Portugal squad boasts serious talent across the board, including assured defenders, talented midfielders, and reliable attackers. Followers got a taste of what’s to come when watching them hammer Finland 4-2 in a friendly match played on Tuesday evening.
Portugal was the hot favourite to beat Finland, and they did what was expected, scoring four goals to win by a comfortable margin. The victors raced into an early lead thanks to goals from Ruben Dias on 17 and Diogo Jota on 45 minutes, with the second from the penalty spot. A second-half double from Bruno Fernandes put the game to bed despite a late fightback from Finland. Pukki netted a quickfire double, finding the net on 72 and 77 minutes, highlighting a fragility in the Portuguese defence, and that’s something Roberto Martinez must improve here.
Croatia has twice made the quarter-finals of the European Championship and aims to improve in Germany this summer. They fell at the last eight stages in 1996 and 2008 before battling to the final of the World Cup in 2018 when landing a silver medal behind France in Russia. The Croatians are a team in great form and have every chance of lifting the trophy next month. Supporters get a better look at the shape and health of the Croatian squad on Saturday evening.
The Croatians were in action on Monday evening, beating North Macedonia 3-0 in a game they controlled from the first to the last whistle. Croatia beat North Macedonia without ever getting out of first gear, thanks to a double from Majer and another from Pasalic. They’ll face tougher challenges in the days and weeks ahead, but Croatia travels for this game with confidence in the camp. A friendly win over Portugal would do wonders for team morale at this stage.
Here, we have a meeting of two big names from European football and two managers who believe their squad is good enough to win in Germany. Saturday’s game will lack a competitive edge as both coaches aim to give minutes to as many players as possible. Friendlies at this late stage are often stop-start with multiple changes affecting the flow of play.
Bet hereWith that in mind, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Portugal and Croatia cancel each other out and produce a draw. A level finish wouldn’t be the worst result for either team at this stage, as both will progress to Germany with their tails up after matching a rival for the silverware. A scoring draw looks possible here, and armchair fans hope this game matches the hype.
When studying the stats attached to this fixture, we note Portugal and Croatia have met seven times previously, with Croatia failing to register a win. The head-to-head stats show Portugal has five wins, with two games ending in a draw. The most recent match produced a narrow 3-2 scoreline in the Nations League back in 2020.
The latest friendly involving these nations ended in a two-goal draw in the summer of 2018. Croatia took the lead early thanks to a strike from Perisic, but a Pepe equaliser matched that. Half of the last four meetings have been draws, and both teams scored in the three most recent games.
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