UEFA Euro 2024 will take place next summer and the road to qualifying for that tournament continues this week with the latest international break. As clubs across the continent hit the pause button on their domestic leagues, plenty of countries will be hoping to edge closer to the finals. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be a fun encounter between Croatia and Turkey.
Croatia Form GuideThey may have only made it to the round of 16 at Euro 2021, but on the biggest stage of them all, Croatia have proven themselves to be the ultimate dark horse. They have finished in 2nd place and 3rd place at the last two World Cups and although it must be said that they have an ageing squad, we still think they’ve got enough gas left in the tank for one more big run.
The Croatians only managed a 1-1 draw with Wales before a nice win over Turkey, followed by a win against Netherlands in their Nations League semi-final. They did, however, come up short against Spain in the final, before two nice wins over Latvia and Armenia in qualifying.
Turkey Form GuideIn the last 16 World Cups, Turkey have only qualified for the final tournament once - finishing in third place. In the Euros, however, they tend to have a bit more luck, having qualified for three of the last four editions. They did only manage to reach the group stage in the last two but at the very least, there’s a clear direction for them as a squad, especially with one of the most intimidating fanbases in world football.
Turkey beat Armenia in March but just three days later, they were beaten 2-0 at home by Croatia. They proceeded to defeat Latvia and Wales in qualification, draw with Armenia and suffer a surprising 4-2 defeat against Japan in an electric friendly.
Match PredictionTurkey will strive to be competitive in a fixture that has always been pretty close, but whether or not they’ll actually be able to sustain it over the course of 90 minutes is something we really doubt. In our view, the prediction that makes the most sense is a Croatia win.
