Kosovo vs Croatia Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Kosovo started their competitive history in pretty good fashion last month when they traveled to Finland and came away with a point after a 1-1 draw. This was their first ever competitive match under FIFA’s watchful gaze after they were granted permission to enter FIFA tournaments earlier this year.

Prior to that they had played a few friendlies as they geared up for their application to be granted, and in general they have performed rather well. They have beaten Oman, Equatorial Guinea, and Faroe Islands and drawn against Haiti and Albania. They have lost a few times, with Turkey hammering them 6-1 in 2014 and Senegal also beating them. A hybrid friendly against Werder Bremen resulted in a 2-0 defeat as well.

However, a number of players have switched allegiances to Kosovo since then and they have a much stronger squad. It’s incredibly unlikely that they can navigate a group including Croatia, Ukraine, and Iceland to make history, but their performance against Finland proved that they aren’t here to be walked over.

Croatia will be a much tougher challenge than Finland though. The visitors have a wealth of talent at their disposal, even without the injured Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren. The likes of Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Rakitic, Marcelo Brozovic and Marko Rog make up a wealth of talented midfield options, and Mario Mandzukuc, Nikola Kalinic, and the upcoming Marko Pjaca are formidable going forward.

They couldn’t make it pay in their qualification opener as they drew 1-1 at home to Turkey, but they did beat Spain and Turkey in Euro 2016 in the summer. They also hammered San Marino 10-0 in one of the warm-up friendlies, and their only defeat in their last 12 games was the extra time loss to Portugal in the quarter finals of Euro 2016. Eight of these 12 games have ended in victory as well.

Kosovo may not be pushovers, but I think this talented Croatia side have enough to get a win on Thursday. They have won four of their last 12 games by more than a single goal margin, and it was only last March that Kosovo were beaten 3-0 by Werder Bremen. I think odds of 6/5 for a Croatia -1 Handicap Win are good value for money, so I’m going for that along with a 3-0 correct score prediction at 17/2.