Croatia 1-1 France: Les Bleus yet to win in Nations League
Croatia 1-1 France: Les Bleus yet to win in Nations League
Andrej Kramaric waited for goalkeeper Mike Maignan to move before rolling the ball into the net
Defending champions France have one point from two Nations League games after being held by Croatia in Split.
They looked on course for victory when Adrien Rabiot’s cool finish from Wissam Ben Yedder’s ball gave them the lead.
But Andrej Kramaric scored a fine penalty after the video assistant referee awarded him a spot-kick following a foul by Jonathan Clauss.
Denmark now top the group on six points after winning 2-1 in Austria.
France now face an uphill battle to reach next year’s Nations League finals after throwing away two leads in five days.
Croatia had chances to win the game but West Ham’s Nikola Vlasic was denied by goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who was making his competitive debut, and Luka Sucic dragged a shot wide.
France handed first competitive starts to Arsenal pair Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba and RB Leipzig’s sought-after frontman Christopher Nkunku.
New Aston Villa signing Boubacar Kamara came on for his France debut in the second half.
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric won his 150th cap for Croatia.
Power outage causes delay in Vienna
Fans used torches to light up the ground after the power outageThe problem affected a region of Vienna and not just the stadium
Denmark overcame Austria in the other game in Group A1 in a game delayed for 90 minutes because of a power failure.
Power went in Vienna’s second district before kick-off, causing the long delay, with fans using their phones to shine some light at the Ernst Happel Stadion.
When the game eventually started, a late Danish strike took them top of the group.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg swept the Danes into the lead before Xaver Schlager took advantage of some poor defending to level.
Denmark’s Christian Eriksen and Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic hit the post as both sides pushed for a winner.
With six minutes left Eriksen found Jens Stryger Larsen, who curled a stunning finish into the top corner.
It was a first defeat for Austria’s former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick, whose side won 3-0 in Croatia last week in his first game in charge.
Line-ups
Croatia
Formation 4-3-3
1Livakovic
22Juranovic20Erlic21Vida3Barisic
10Modric11Brozovic8Kovacic
4Majer17Budimir7Brekalo
1Livakovic
22Juranovic
20Erlic
21VidaBooked at 21mins
3Barisic
10ModricSubstituted forSucicat 79′minutes
11Brozovic
8KovacicSubstituted forVlasicat 79′minutes
4MajerSubstituted forPasalicat 63′minutes
17BudimirSubstituted forKramaricat 69′minutes
7BrekaloSubstituted forOrsicat 63′minutes
Substitutes
2Vrsaljko
5Sutalo
6Pongracic
9Kramaric
12Labrovic
13Vlasic
14Sucic
15Pasalic
16Jakic
18Orsic
19Ivanusec
23Ivusic
France
Formation 4-2-3-1
16Maignan
2Pavard17Saliba3Kimpembe18Digne
8Tchouaméni6Guendouzi
20Diaby12Nkunku14Rabiot
9Ben Yedder
16Maignan
2Pavard
17Saliba
3KimpembeBooked at 84mins
18Digne
8TchouaméniSubstituted forKamaraat 62′minutes
6Guendouzi
20DiabySubstituted forClaussat 79′minutes
12Nkunku
14Rabiot
9Ben YedderSubstituted forGriezmannat 62′minutes
Substitutes
1Lloris
4Konaté
5Koundé
7Griezmann
10Mbappé
11Coman
13Kamara
15Clauss
19Benzema
21Hernández
22Hernández
23Areola
Live Text
Match ends, Croatia 1, France 1.
Second Half ends, Croatia 1, France 1.
Attempt missed. Luka Sucic (Croatia) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Josip Juranovic with a through ball.
Mattéo Guendouzi (France) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Borna Barisic (Croatia).
Offside, Croatia. Mislav Orsic tries a through ball, but Luka Sucic is caught offside.
Corner, Croatia. Conceded by Lucas Digne.
Attempt missed. Antoine Griezmann (France) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
Corner, Croatia. Conceded by Mike Maignan.
Attempt saved. Nikola Vlasic (Croatia) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Jonathan Clauss (France) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Borna Barisic (Croatia).
Presnel Kimpembe (France) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Presnel Kimpembe (France).
Luka Sucic (Croatia) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal! Croatia 1, France 1. Andrej Kramaric (Croatia) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
VAR Decision: Penalty Croatia.
Penalty conceded by Jonathan Clauss (France) after a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty Croatia. Andrej Kramaric draws a foul in the penalty area.
Attempt saved. Luka Sucic (Croatia) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mislav Orsic with a through ball.
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