Day: September 5, 2018

These two teams clash after a World Cup campaign that has ushered in a new era for both of them.

Portugal were eliminated by Uruguay at the round of 16 as they failed to build on their Euro 2016 success in France.

They have witnessed some of their trusted names retire from International football, and Cristiano Ronaldo has asked not to be called for now as he considers international retirement, so Fernando Santos would be having a largely inexperienced group for this game.

The Portuguese had a poor defence at the World Cup, but Pepe has stayed on the international scene and would be looking to usher in the new generation of international defenders, but this game would be a testing one for an untested defence.

Croatian football is on the rise, and after they reached the final of the World Cup, the Blazers would be targetting winning Euro 2020, but the work starts now.

Although some of their players have left the international scene, they have managed to hold on to the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, and Ivan Perisic, so we expect a solid team for this game.

Croatia dominated the match the last time these two teams met at Euro 2016, but Portugal still dumped them out on their way to winning the competition, the Croatians would consider this payback time.

The UEFA Nations League’s inaugural season sees these two heavyweights clash after varying degrees of success at the last World Cup.

Germany became the latest victims of ‘defending champions curse’ as they crash out in the group stages in Russia despite being in a group that we all expected them to thrive in.

Joachim Low is now looking to get his players back among the winners with a successful campaign this time around. He has named almost the same team from the World with Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira the major absentees, and Leroy Sane securing a return.

France went all the way to win the World Cup in Russia, and the French team seems to still be in celebratory mood ahead of this clash. However, Didier Deschamp would still have the pleasure of picking a team of players who have returned to form for their clubs, and they should compound Germany’s misery here.

These teams have met six times in the last six years, France have won three times, including the semifinal defeat of Germany at Euro 2016, while Germany have won 2 times including eliminating France at the Brazil 2014 World Cup.