Czech Republic v Croatia

FULL TIME1 – 2

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 18:45:00 UTCepet ARENAMatchday 1

Pre-game analysis— full article

Czech Republic and Croatia Kick Off Nations League Campaigns With New Managers and High Stakes

Both nations look to rebound from disappointing World Cup exits as Santi Denia's rebuilding Czech side hosts Slaven Bilic's veteran Croatian squad in Prague.

5 cited sources · Sep 26 · Read the article →

Match stats

Czech RepublicCroatia

44Possession56

5Shots16

2Shots on target5

2Shots off target6

1Blocked shots5

4Shots inside box12

1Shots outside box4

1Corners6

6Offsides0

6Fouls9

2Yellow cards1

0Red cards0

4Saves1

450Passes564

380Accurate passes489

Match events

36′Lukáš Červ
47′Luka Modrić (assist Igor Matanović)
54′Adam Karabec (assist Adam Hložek)
63′Igor Matanović ← Ante Budimir
63′Franjo Ivanović ← Marco Pašalić
63′Luka Sučić ← Mario Pašalić
66′Luka Vušković
67′Lukáš Červ → Alex Král
67′Lukáš Ambros → Matěj Radosta
74′Adam Karabec → Martin Šubert
76′Luka Modrić ← Josip Mišić
77′Marco Pašalić (assist Ivan Perišić)
81′Matěj Radosta · VAR
83′Jiří Sláma → Ondřej Zmrzlý
83′Pavel Šulc → Václav Sejk
88′Petar Sučić ← Nikola Vlašić
90′Vladimír Coufal

Czech Republic · Croatia

Starting XI · as it played — Ratings are a Pulse estimate

Czech Republic4-4-2

86.3Sadílek

56.0Coufal

107.1Hložek

97.3↓74'Karabec

46.3Hranáč

126.0↓67'Červ

156.3↓83'Šulc

66.3Chaloupek

206.3↓83'Sláma

136.3↓67'Ambros

166.1Horníček

Croatia3-5-2

107.8↓76'Modrić

86.8Kovačić

147.5Perišić

16.8Livaković

46.8Gvardiol

216.8↓63'Sučić

207.5↓63'Matanović

26.8Stanišić

176.8↓88'Sučić

166.8↓63'Ivanović

56.5Vušković

Lineups — ratings are a Pulse estimate

Czech Republic

8Michal Sadílek6.3
5Vladimír Coufal6.0
10Adam Hložek7.1
9Adam Karabec7.3
4Robin Hranáč6.3
12Lukáš Červ6.0
15Pavel Šulc6.3
6Štěpán Chaloupek6.3
20Jiří Sláma6.3
13Lukáš Ambros6.3
16Lukáš Horníček6.1

Croatia

10Luka Modrić7.8
8Mateo Kovačić6.8
14Ivan Perišić7.5
1Dominik Livaković6.8
4Joško Gvardiol6.8
21Luka Sučić6.8
20Igor Matanović7.5
2Josip Stanišić6.8
17Petar Sučić6.8
16Franjo Ivanović6.8
5Luka Vušković6.5

Czech RepublicTale of the tapeCroatia

4-4-2Formation3-5-2

WDDWWFormLWDLD

Head to head

First meeting

Czech Republic and Croatia have not met in the seasons we hold. Seasons searched: 2024-2025, 2026-2027.

Recent form — Last five, before this fixture

Czech Republic

WDDWW

vsGeorgia2-1
@Albania0-0
@Ukraine1-1
vsAlbania2-0
vsUkraine3-2

Croatia

LWDLD

@France0-2
vsFrance2-0
vsPortugal1-1
@Scotland0-1
@Poland3-3

This season — other meeting

CroatiavCzech Republic

Related coverage — from the newsroom