Croatia beat France 2-0 in Nations League quarter-final first leg
SPLIT, CROATIA - MARCH 20: Ante Budimir of Croatia celebrates a goal during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal leg one match between Croatia and France at Stadion Poljud on March 20, 2025 in Split, Croatia.
Croatia's Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic struck to secure a deserved 2-0 win over France in their Nations League quarter-final, first leg on Thursday, as the return of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele failed to get the visitors to fire.
Croatia also missed an early penalty when Andrej Kramaric’s spot-kick was saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, and the 2023 runners-up were full value for a win that might easily have been achieved by a greater margin.
France created chances and tested Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic several times, but it was a below-par performance on a n...