Croatia vs. Spain – News and Probable Lineups

High-scoring Spain and defensively vulnerable Croatia wrap up their international break this Tuesday night in League A Group 3 of the UEFA Nations League.

The two teams meet again at the Stadion Poljud in Split, just after La Roja’s notable 4-1 victory on September 29, followed by an even more humiliating night for Slaven Bilic.

Match overview

Familiar with entertaining and fiercely contested matches against England in recent years – from the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 group-stage encounter to the six-goal thriller in World Cup 2026 a few months ago – Croatia experienced a shocking dismantling by the Three Lions on Saturday night.

Two goals each from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka, along with contributions from Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham, and Anthony Gordon, propelled England to a historic 7-0 victory, a record for the Chequered Ones.

Saturday’s unbelievable scoreline marked Croatia’s largest ever defeat in men’s football, and the first occurrence in their history of conceding five goals at home, with the many schoolchildren allowed to observe the match heading home in disbelief.

Now suffering from consecutive losses and having conceded an astounding 11 goals, Croatia finds themselves third in the League A Group 4 table, just three points ahead of the pointless Czech Republic and with a similar gap to second-placed England.

Bilic could only express his apologies to the nation following the historic thrashing, which has greatly contributed to Croatia conceding the joint second-most goals in the 2026-27 Nations League with 12, only behind San Marino’s 14.

From being one of the least effective defensive teams to possessing one of the most potent attacking setups, Spain has joined England in scoring 10 goals on Saturday night, demonstrating a superiority over a 10-man Czech Republic side.

Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the sixth minute, followed by goals from midfielders Rodri and Mikel Merino, with a response from Jiri Slama and a red card for Ladislav Krejci interrupting the two pivotal contributions in Oviedo.

With a perfect record in the Nations League so far, Spain comfortably leads the Group 3 standings, and their impressive unbeaten run now spans 41 matches in all competitions, with their last 10 encounters resulting in wins.

Additionally, Luis de la Fuente’s squad has not lost in 16 consecutive Nations League matches – excluding any penalty shootout defeats – the longest such streak of any side since the tournament began in 2018.

Records keep falling for the global champions, whose 4-1 victory over Croatia in September marked their fourth straight win against the hosts, who have let in at least two goals in five of their last six clashes with Spain.

Team News

One small silver lining for Croatia following their 0-7 defeat to England was the absence of new injury worries for Bilic, though five players remain at risk of suspension – Luka Vuskovic, Marco Pasalic, Josip Misic, Petar Sucic, and Martin Pongracic.

However, the latter was not part of the matchday squad on Saturday alongside Lovro Majer, Ante Budimir, and Dion Drena Beljo, forcing Bilic to exclude four players from his 23-man roster.

The nature of Saturday’s poor display might lead to changes in the lineup, although Luka Modric – substituted before the hour mark against England – is expected to retain his spot for his 206th appearance.

For Spain, De la Fuente took both Yamal and Alex Baena off at halftime against the Czech Republic; both changes were tactical rather than stemming from any injury issues.

Pau Cubarsi’s complete absence was also down to a need for recovery, but La Roja suffered a few withdrawals prior to kickoff, with Ferran Torres, Nico Williams, and Alex Grimaldo all departing the squad.

Nevertheless, De la Fuente can afford to rotate his selection once more, having made a staggering nine changes to his starting XI for the victory over the Czech Republic.

Croatia probable starting XI:

Livakovic; Smolcic, Sutalo, Vuskovic, Gvardiol; Modric, Kovacic; Ivanovic, Mario Pasalic, Vlasic; Matanovic

Espanha probable starting XI:

Simon; Fresneda, Cubarsi, Huijsen, Cucurella; Lopez, Zubimendi, Pedri; Yamal, Oyarzabal, Munoz

A clash with the world champions following a devastating loss is a daunting prospect for Croatia, but there should be no recurrence of Saturday’s brutal defeat after such a harsh reality check.

Even so, Bilic’s defensively troubled team faces significant challenges in upsetting De la Fuente’s relentless side, which is anticipated to maintain their perfect record with relative ease.