France U21 vs Croatia U21 Predictions

France kicked off the Under 21 Euros with a victory, a win which basically sends them into the next round in an incredibly tough competition. While making the semis from the group stages in this competition is difficult, the groups tend to be very top heavy. France were able to produce a comeback against England, their biggest rivals, to make it out of the group. Now France know they can finish the job with the easier tasks of beating Croatia and Romania in their last two games in the group.

This clash is also a meeting of the 2018 World Cup finalists, albeit without the same players. These two squads would have watched on last summer as the two groups of players made it to the World Cup final, as France secured a victory. The meeting between their two under 21 sides isn’t quite as close as that World Cup final, especially as only one of these two sides are coming into this game on the back of a victory.

Croatia were beaten 4-1 by Romania in their first game at this tournament, which has left them on their way home. Croatia have done well to make it to the tournament in the first place, but we struggle to see them matching a French side who have their sights on glory this summer. The French will want to establish themselves as the force in world football, just as Germany did two years ago when their under 21’s won this competition.

France certainly are a side to fear, as they’ve been incredibly consistent with the pressure on. They’ve managed to win 12 of their last 13 competitive matches. However, they have shown issues in defence. Their 2-1 win over England was the sixth game in seven in which the French have failed to keep a clean sheet. Croatia did manage to notch in their loss to Romania, while the underdogs do at least have a decent attacking threat going into this game.

While France conceded in their opener, their biggest disappointment was going forward. They scored twice against the Young Lions but they also missed two penalties on the night. With a little more composure now that the pressure is toned down the French could be an attacking outfit to fear. That’s why we’re backing France to win this clash with over 2.5 goals scored, given that four of their last five matches have seen at least three goals scored.