Croatia, who came third in the World Cup, now has a good chance of getting their ticket to EURO 2024 in Germany.
The team around Real Madrid star Luka Modric won the away game in Riga against Latvia 2-0 (2-0) in Group D. Wolfsburg’s Lovro Majer (7th) and Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric (16th) ensured clear conditions in favor of the Croatians early on.
Leverkusen’s Josip Stanisic was also in Croatia’s starting lineup. Previously, rivals Wales had not managed to get past a 1-1 (1-1) draw against hosts Armenia in Yerevan. The Welsh were behind early on after a goal from Lucas Selarajan (5th), but equalized before the break: Armenian Najair Tiknisjan (45th+1) headed a long throw-in from Connor Roberts into his own goal.
“We are disappointed, of course, we wanted the win,” summarized Wales coach Robert Page. In the case of a threesome, a win in the last game against Turkey, who had already qualified, would have been enough for direct qualification. Now the Welsh have to hope for a mistake from their rivals Croatia against Armenia. Page: “We have to pick our heads up again and show a corresponding performance on Tuesday.”
In Group I, Belarus won 1-0 (0-0) against Andorra in Budapest.