France vs. Croatia
June 13, 2022
The Stage
The two finalists from the 2018 World Cup in Russia
The venue is the Stade de France, the site of the World Cup final 24 years ago (staying on the World Cup theme)
June 13 is also the typical timeframe the World Cup would be played, but not this year. Due to Qatar’s intense summer heat, the tournament will be played in the winter months for the first time in history. So instead, this is a UEFA Nations League Group A1 match
Key Moments
3:00 - Konate clips Budimir’s heel on an early Croatia corner and the referee spots it
5:00 - After a one minute VAR review, Modric scores the confirmed penalty, despite Maignan getting a hand on it, to put Croatia ahead 0-1
Halftime - 0-1 to Croatia. Despite France dominating possession, they couldn’t get a shot on target the whole half, although Nkunku shot narrowly wide just before the half hour mark
49:00 - Tchouameni, who came on for Kamara at halftime, finally registers France’s first shot on goal, but it’s straight to Croatian keeper Ivusic
72:00 - Croatian subsitute, Majer, tests Maignan, but the French keeper denies the potential second goal
90:00+4 - France almost equalize late on, but ironically it was from a defender’s effort to clear a cross heading for Benzema. Croatian keeper, Ivusic, was alert and pulled off a late save
Full-time - 0-1 victory for Croatia
Takeaways
Croatia the more disciplined of the two sides with their shape and compactness. 4-3-3 quickly changed to 4-5-1 after the early goal, and later in the match 5-4-1, making them tough to break down. This approach nullified the pace of Mbappe and Nkunku on the wings, and gave Benzema very little space in the middle
France depended too much on their front three: Benzema, Mbappe, Nkunku to create goals on their own without midfield creativity or support. Tchouameni coming on at halftime tried to address this since he’s more box to box than Kamara, Guendouzi, or Rabiot, but still not enough
A lot was expected of Nkunku (L), Benzema (M), and Mbappe (R)
France’s front three had too much free rein positionally, routinely dropping deep, or alternating wings, which left gaps in the positions they vacated, since the other midfielders (Rabiot, Guendouzi, Kamara/Tchouameni) had to sit deeper because of the threat Croatia posed on the counter
Awards
Man of the match - Modric. Despite playing for Real Madrid until the end of May, the 36 year old still looked amongst the liveliest in the match. He was constantly involved in play both defensively, and in attack. The goal was just extra to the substance he already provided
Man of the match
Best skill of the match - Benzema’s dribbling in the 54th minute. Suffocated for space all match, the attacker’s run that started at the edge of the area and ended near the penalty spot was a beauty. Surrounded by three defenders, Benzema’s quick feet—and technical ability—got him past the first two opponents, and if not for a last ditch tackle from the third, the scoreline may have been different