Portugal vs Croatia: Winners of the First Nations League Draw Kick Off Against Croatia

Portugal vs Croatia: Match Preview

What to Expect

Portugal and Croatia will face off in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday, June 9th, 2023. The match will be played at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto, Portugal.

Portugal are the defending champions of the Nations League, having won the inaugural tournament in 2019. Croatia, meanwhile, are making their first appearance in the competition.

Both teams will be looking to make a strong start to their Nations League campaign, and a win in this match would be a big boost for either side.

Team News

Portugal are without a number of key players for this match, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Cancelo, and Ruben Dias.

Croatia, meanwhile, are at full strength for this match.

Predicted Lineups

Portugal: Patricio; Semedo, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; Neves, Moutinho, Fernandes; Bernardo Silva, Jota, Leao Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Kovacic, Brozovic, Modric; Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic

Prediction

This is a tough match to call, but I think Portugal will just edge it.

The Portuguese are the defending champions and have a lot of quality in their squad, even without Ronaldo and Cancelo.

Croatia are a good team, but I think Portugal will have too much for them on this occasion.