Croatia vs Turkey tips and predictions: Zlatko Dalic's men to continue qualification march
- Scott Allen
- 12 October 2023
Croatia lock horns with Turkey in a game that should ultimately decide who takes first place in Group D of the Euro 2024 qualifiers (Thurs 1945).
Croatia have the same number of points as Turkey, but have a game in hand on their rivals so are in the driving seat.
But a slip up at the Opus Arena in Osijek will open the door for their opponents across the Mediterranean, and possibly Armenia and Wales lurking just outside the qualification places.
The visitors went through a major change at the end of September with German manager Stefan Kuntz paying the price for the surprising 1-1 draw against Armenia.
He was replaced by former AC Milan and Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella, who was given the clear objective of securing qualification the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
Thursday evening's clash is his first match as an international coach, after a journeyman managerial career across Italy, Spain and most recently with Adana Demirspor in Turkey. So this clash is certainly a baptism of fire for the 49-year-old Italian.
This could turn out to be one of his shortest managerial spells if he mucks up qualification, and with eight jobs in the last twelve years he's a man who knows all about short managerial spells.
Croatia are one of Europe’s most successful teams in recent years, with a World Cup final appearance in 2018, third place at the 2022 World Cup and Nations League runners-ip in 2023.
They are now approaching the end of a remarkable golden generation, that has one final objective at Euro 2024 - to finally lift a trophy.
Croatia have 10 points after four games in their group - three wins and a draw - which includes a 2-0 away win over Turkey in March, where Manchester City's Mateo Kovacic was the unlikely match winner with both goals.
Croatia managed a hard earned win in their last qualifying group match, with Andrej Kramaric scoring the only goal in a match they dominated. It's only a 1-1 draw with Wales in March that has blunted their near perect record so far.
Turkey come into this match after 4-2 friendly defeat to Japan in early September, but have scored in all their qualifying games, apart from the defeat to Croatia.
The Crescent-Stars have netted ten in six games this year, only failing to score once, while the Croatians are usually pretty ruthless in front of goal.
June's Nations League final against Spain was the first time they hadn't found the net since their 3-0 World Cup defeat to Argentina in December 2022.
Home advantage will give Croatia a big edge here, but Turkey could cause them some problems, so we are expecting plenty of goalmouth action.
But Kovacic to score another brace is highly unlikely, so steer clear of that 130/1 price however tempting it may seem.
