Euro 2024 - Croatia vs Albania: Team News and Prediction

Croatia and Albania kick off the second round of group games at Euro 2024 in Hamburg and the duo need a result here after losing to Spain and Italy, respectively. 

Here, we run through the necessary pre-match information, including where to watch this Group B game, what time it kicks off, team news and the key battle. 

When is kick off?               

Wednesday 19th June, 14:00 (GMT)              

Where is the match?              

Volksparkstadion, Hamburg (Germany) 

Team News 

Croatia have no injury concerns following their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain at the weekend but head coach Zlatko Dalic could make a couple of tweaks to the frontline for Wednesday's must-not-lose meeting with Albania. Indeed, Ivan Perisic and Bruno Petkovic both came off the bench in Berlin and could start, though the latter will seek to make amends following his penalty miss. 

Likewise, Albania don't have any absentee issues for their Group B meeting with Croatia and could go with the same XI that started the 2-1 loss to Italy on Friday night. Rey Manaj looked bright off the bench against the Azzurri and is pushing for a starting spot for Sylvinho's side. 

Probable XIs 

Croatia (433) - Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Brozovic, Kovacic, Modric; Majer, Petkovic, Perisic 

Albania (4411) - Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asani, Ramadani, Asllani, Seferi; Bajrami; Broja 

Key Battle

Josip Sutalo very much maximised a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'passing' in the Eredivisie last season, ending the campaign with a success rate of 91.8% from 73 passes per game. Croatia actually saw more of the ball than Spain on Saturday, which is a surprise given La Roja's dominance on the international stage, but Sutalo and his Croatia teammates will need to keep their wits about them in order to minimise the Albania offensive.

While they raced into a lead after just 23 seconds against Italy, Albania were unable to hold on against the Azzurri and need a result on Wednesday afternoon to further boost their chances of booking a knockout spot. Armando Broja was a handful for the Italy backline and while he failed to fire off a shot on goal, the 22-year-old still managed one key pass, one dribble and one tackle. Broja will need to pressure the Croatia backline in order to limit their time on the ball to ensure the Vatreni are unable to build up their rhythm and settle into their gameplan.

Score Prediction: Croatia 2-1 Albania