One of the more interesting games in the first round of the EURO 2024 qualifiers is in Split, where Croatia hosts Wales at Poljud Stadium. The hosts didn’t reach the finals at the recent World Cup in Qatar but ended up with the medal at the end, which is proof that this generation of players was arguably one of the best that Europe ever saw. Yes, they had a lot of luck, but fortune follows the brave ones. Meanwhile, Wales didn’t have such an experience, finishing its episode at the World Cup right away in the group stage.
Preview
Croatia (-160) has just one defeat in the past 13 games, which was against Argentina in the semis back in Qatar. The latter World Cup winners blew away the Croats with 3-0, finishing everything inside the opening 45 minutes. Though, Zlatko Dalic’s players bounced back quickly to defeat Morocco in the third-place game.
This unit prefers a low-pace game and usually tries to take possession of the ball and kill the rivals’ tempo. You will see only a few goals when Croatia plays, usually one or two, although, they do know to use the slightest mistakes of the rivals and stuff their net.
In the latest UEFA Nations League, we saw them playing three matches at home, posting a win (Denmark, 2-1), a tie (France 0-1), and a loss (Austria, 0-3).
Wales (+520) is without Gareth Bale, who now plays golf, not soccer anymore. It means that the Dragons are starting a new chapter in their history, which will be turbulent. We saw the head coach Rob Page making changes and introducing new faces to the national team.
The leader will still be Aaron Ramsey, and the working horses are now Neco Williams, Daniel James, and Ethan Ampadu. Though, the style of play Wales prefers won’t change at all. They will still be a defensive-oriented crew who waits for a chance to strike from the counter-attack r from a set-piece.
Regarding the form of the team, the Dragons have one victory in the past 11 events, which could be described as terrible. One goal scored, six conceded at the World Cup, and only one point from three meetings summarized everything we have to say.
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The Croats didn’t make any changes compared to the World Cup, and all of their key players, including Modric, are called up.
Bale is not present, Matt Smith, Dylan Levitt and Rubin Colwill are out. Joe Allen and Jonny Williams retired from the Welsh team.
Head to Head Games
The two nations met in the 2019 EURO qualifiers. Croatia won the game at home, 2-1, while the one at Cardiff saw a 1-1 tie. Previously in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the Croats were better than the Dragons in both events. Overall, Wales didn’t beat Croatia so far since it became an independent state.
Predictions
The hosts are a much better team than Wales, so three points are expected here. We like the odds of the Croats winning because, in our opinion, the bookmakers have made it far too profitable considering the overall situation (the quality of the Croatians and the Welsh’s poor form).
Pick: Croatia to win -160
Here are more previews for the EURO 2024 qualifiers:
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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