Croatia and Albania clash on Wednesday in their second matches of the tournament with both sides needing to win after losing their UEFA Euro 2024 Group B openers over the weekend. Zlatko Dalic’s men were crushed by Spain while Sylvinho’s side lost out to Italy despite scoring the opening goal within the first minute, with the two continental giants seizing control of the standings.
La Roja ran riot against Croatia which means that Vatreni are now staring at early elimination although many had tipped them to make life tricky for the Spanish and the Italians. The Azzurri were given an early scare by Kuqezinjtë before restoring order but few will underestimate this Albanian side now that they have shown what they are capable of with Nedim Bajrami’s record early goal.
Croatia are up against it to overturn a run of three losses from five competitive games and the last time that they lost consecutive games at a major international tournament came back in 1996. This is a first-ever meeting with their Balkan rivals at senior international level and only Albania’s second Euro since their independence with three losses from four.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, June 19 | Time: 9 a.m. ET
- Location: Volksparkstadion – Hamburg, Germany
- Watch: FS1 or Fubo Sports (try for free)
- Odds: Croatia -200; Draw +320; Albania +600
Group B
Unsurprisingly, Spain and Italy lead the way in the standings with three points apiece with both sides set to meet later on Thursday. Albania came close to maintaining their unbeaten run of seven games which dated back to March of 2023 but that is now gone. Neither side will be happy with a draw and need to go for the win to hope to advance at the expense of the Azzurri or La Roja or as one of the best third-placed sides.
Team news
Croatia: Dalic could move Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol into a central defensive role with Marin Pongracic being replaced by Borna Sosa at left-back. Marcelo Brozovic could also come out for Luka Sucic or Mario Pasalic in the middle while Bruno Petkovic is unlikely to force his way into the XI after missing a penalty against Spain.
Possible Croatia XI: Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Sucic, Kovacic; Majer, Budimir, Kramaric.
Albania: Jasir Asani is likely to miss out injured so Arber Hoxha could come in with either Rey Manaj or Armando Broja up top now that Sokol Cikalleshi has retired. Sassuolo’s Nedim Bajrami who scored the fastest goal in Euro history against Italy should provide support behind whichever of Broja or Manaj is preferred.
Possible Albania XI: Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani; Laci, Bajrami, Hoxha; Broja.
Prediction
Both sides need to win and the importance of not losing will likely see this one end level with each side scoring but facing an uphill task to reach the knockout phase. Pick: Croatia 1, Albania 1.
Group B table and results
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 | 3 |
| Italy |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 | 0 |
| Albania |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 | 0 |
| Croatia |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 | 0 |
June 15
Spain 3, Croatia 0
Italy 1, Albania 2
