Sport

Croatia 1-1 Portugal: Gvardiol earns draw as hosts advance in Nations League

Admin 3 days ago

10 2 minutes read

Croatia have joined Portugal in the quarter-finals of the Nations League after the sides played out a 1-1 draw in Split on Monday.

UEFA Nations League 2024/2025

1-1

Josko Gvardiol (65')

Felix (33')

Competition events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Neves fails to grab the ball from a good cross from Mendes

17' Livaković blocks Leao's shot as Otavio gets the rebound and fires high

29' Leão's shot is blocked before Semedo misses the goal

33' Félix opens the scoring after a wonderful assist from Vitinha! Croatia 0-1 Portugal

39' CLOSE! Kramarić's shot hits the woodwork!

47' Leão with another chance! Félix gives him a nice ball, but his shot goes wide

50' José Sá cleverly saves Baturina's effort

62' Gvardiol scores the equalizer, but is disallowed for offside after a VAR review

65' Gvardiol scores the equalizer via a cross from Jakić! Croatia 1-1 Portugal

73' Livaković prevents Portugal from restoring lead after Mendes' shot was blocked

78' José Sá makes a great double save to deny Croatia's attempt

92' Almost a late winner for the hosts! Budimir hits the woodwork!

Match report

Josko Gvardiol equalized in the 65th minute after Joao Felix had given Portugal – already assured of first place – the lead in the first half at Stadion Poljud.

That goal ensured Croatia finished a point better off than Scotland in Group A1 after securing a late 2-1 win over Poland in Warsaw.

In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix stepped up by taking Vitinha's pass in his step and calmly firing past Dominik Livakovic in the 33rd minute – the goal was allowed to stand after a VAR check on offside.

Andrej Kramaric blasted an effort back off the crossbar and Gvardiol had a goal disallowed for offside either side of the break as Croatia pushed for an equalizer.

However, Gvardiol found the net again shortly afterwards, and this time it was allowed to stand as he got to the end of Kristijan Jakic's throw at the back post.

Livakovic and Jose Sa produced fine saves to deny Nuno Mendes and Ante Budimir, who also hit the outside of the post, but neither side could find a winning goal.

#Croatia is in the quarter-finals of the #NationsLeague – congratulations! #CROPOR#UNL | #PokažiSrce | #Family | #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/0TXZBhwj81

— HNS (@HNS_CFF) November 18, 2024

Data Debrief: Gvardiol scores again against blunt visitors

Roberto Martinez opted to release Ronaldo, Silva, Pedro Neto and the suspended Fernandes back to their clubs before this match and Portugal missed out on an edge in front of goal.

Joao Felix made excellent use of his opportunity, scoring his only goal with an expected goals value (xG) of 0.58 over the 90 minutes, but the visitors were unable to find the net in any of their other eleven attempts.

Croatia's attackers were also frustrated by the combination of goal frame and Sa, but in-form defender Gvardiol was the hero as he scored for the fourth time this season for club and country.