Croatia VS England

Croatia’s away form has swung wildly across their last two outings, opening with a narrow 2-1 win over Czechia before suffering a lopsided 1-4 defeat to Spain. Their home record is far more reliable though: they have gone unbeaten across 9 consecutive competitive home matches, notching 8 wins and 1 draw to prove extremely consistent at picking up points on home soil. Their biggest flaw lies in their leaky defense, which has failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 of their last 12 matches across all competitions, and tends to collapse entirely when facing top-tier opponents. Their attack relies heavily on midfield orchestration and set pieces, with a decent scoring rate when playing at home. As for England, they fell just short 2-3 against Spain in their opening match, before claiming their first win with a 2-0 away victory over Czechia in the second round. The squad boasts elite talent and high upside, posing constant threats both in positional play and fast transition attacks. Their main weakness is the occasional impetuousness of their young players in high-stakes matches, paired with sporadic lapses in defensive concentration. They have contested multiple tough fixtures recently, with both goals scored and conceded in most of those games, leading to their typical open, high-tempo playing style.