The game between Croatia and Italy will have a major impact on the final standings in Group B. The defending champions, Italy, are in a promising situation since they do not need to do anything spectacular to go through, while Croatia has to win in order to stay in the tournament. The game will take place at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig on June 24th.
Croatia vs Italy: Initial situation
When the EURO 2024 draw was conducted, Group B was labeled as the “Group of Death.” It was expected that every game would be of high importance, and just like that, Croatia found themselves in a win-or-go-home situation going into the last game against Italy. There is no other option but win for Croatia to stay in the tournament, and knowing how competitive this team is, we are about to watch an epic game.
Croatia Stats & Form
Croatia came into the tournament as a dark horse candidate to win it after finishing among the top three teams in the last two World Cups. Instead, they were only a shadow of the team they used to be not that long ago. They lost the opener 3-0 against Spain, with all the goals being scored in the opening half. They found themselves down by a goal in the second matchday against Albania but somehow managed to turn things around in a three-minute stretch in the second half. Just when they thought they would win the game, they allowed a goal in stoppage time, and now they are in the game against Italy with only one point. Croatia has six wins, three losses, and a draw in the last ten games. Their last five games went over 2.5 goals in total.
Italy Stats & Form
After missing the last World Cup, Italy came into this tournament with a lot to prove. The defending champion started their journey with a 2-1 comeback win over Albania after allowing the fastest goal in the history of the competition. In the second game, they lost 1-0 to Spain, and their performance was far from the expected level. That was Italy’s second loss in the last ten games after losing to England in the qualifiers. They also have six wins and two draws. Six of Italy’s last seven games ended with under 2.5 goals in total.
Croatia vs Italy: Head to Head
These two teams have played eight times before, and an amazing fact is that Italy never won, while Croatia won three of those games, with the other four ending in a tie. They were in the same qualifying group for the 2016 Euro when both games finished in a 1-1 tie.The last time Croatia won was in a friendly game in 2006, when the score was 2-0, and they also beat Italy in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup, when it was 2-1.
Croatia vs Italy Odds
Italy is a slight favorite going into this game with 135 odds for their win while Croatia is given 220. The odds for a draw is 220.
The total goals margin is set at 2.5 with the odds of -110 for both ways.
Betting tip and prediction: Albania vs Spain (24.06.2024)
The elimination stage has already started for Croatia, as they have to beat Italy in the regular 90 minutes to stay in the tournament. This team led by Luka Modric has done bigger things than that, like beating Brazil in the knockout stage of the last World Cup, so no one should count out the team that is currently third in the world.
It is a fact that Croatia did not perform at their recognizable level so far in the tournament. They were absolutely dominated in the first game against Spain and were down for the majority of the game against Albania. Croatia is not as efficient as usual, but they still have the talent to score against anybody.
Italy is going into this game with way less pressure since they are second in the standings with three points. They will probably focus on the defensive end as they usually do, even more since winning a point is something that guarantees them a spot in the final 16 teams in the tournament.
Looking back at the head-to-head games between these two teams, the last three games ended up in a tie, so we go with the same scenario for this one as well.