Croatia vs Belgium
World Cup 2026 hopefuls Croatia and Belgium meet at the Stadion HNK Rijeka on Tuesday in a tasty international friendly for the rapidly advancing summer showcase.
Beaten World Cup finalists in 2018, Croatia will be managed by Zlatco Dalic, their head coach of nine years, and he leads a plethora of experienced players who have seen it all in domestic and international football. Rudi Garcia manages a Belgium squad which has a sense of renewal, with the Golden Generation, which ultimately failed to deliver to their potential, slowly being edged out by a new generation.
Both the Croats and the Red Devils will be keen to make their mark on Tuesday as the coaches fine tune their plans, and each will expect to go pretty deep into the World Cup finals, and, alongside the likes of the Netherlands and Uruguay, I’d put them in the category of the dark horses we should keep an eye on.
Talking Points
Modric eyes the big 200
Croatia will meet England in Group L and expect to go through with the Three Lions, though the underdogs of Panama and Ghana will have different ideas. Before they begin their World Cup campaign Dalic’s men will face Belgium and then Slovenia in warm up games. And should talisman Luke Modric make four appearances over the next month he will have notched up 200 caps for his country. In a glittering international career spanning two decades Modric, now 40, has scored 28 goals in 196 games and he’s currently plying his domestic trade at AC Milan.
In a midfield that boasts Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic and Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic, Modric is still the star attraction, able to pick a killer pass or turn a defender using his dazzling ball skills rather than relying on pace, much as Lionel Messi has adapted. A dead ball specialist Modric is a match-winner in waiting, yet again.
There is more experience in this Croatia side up front where winger Ivan Perisic has racked up over 150 caps, now playing at PSV Eindhoven, and Osasuna’s 34 year old striker Ante Budmir has staked his case for a start, finishing third in the race for the Pichichi, on 17 goals.
The back line has more youth in its ranks with Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol and Josip Stanisic of Bayern Munich set to star in the USA.
De Bruyne looks for a Belgian boost
The Red Devils are in World Cup Group G, with Egypt, Iran and New Zealand and the World Cup 2026 betting odds make them outright favourites to win that group. And they too have a talisman in the autumn of his career who is ready to take one last shot. After an injury ravaged season which kept him out of much of Napoli’s season, Kevin De Bruyne is ready to lead Belgium into battle and add to his impressive tally of 36 goals in 117 internationals. The former Manchester City man showed glimpses of his genius in 18 appearances for I Partenopei, scoring five goals, but he is yet to reach the heights he did in the Premier League where he became one of the most prolific assist makers in the English top flight history.
De Bruyne would dearly one more shot at dominating on the world stage, as would his Napoli team-mate Romelu Lukaku who will lead the attack; and watch out for Manchester City star Jeremy Doku, who has finished the campaign in superb form, winning the FA Cup to add to his Carabao Cup medal and he’s nailed on to make some special World Cup 2026 highlights if he keeps it up.
As the last line of defence, Centurian Thibaut Courtois will face competition from Manchester United keeper Senne Lammens who has impressed at Old Trafford this term.
History
The Red Devils are edging the head to head meetings by three wins to two and there have been two draws, the last meeting being a goalless draw at the 2022 World Cup, a result which saw the Belgians crash out at the group stage.
In terms of recent form Croatia have won four of their last six, with one draw and one defeat, to Brazil in an April friendly last time out. Meanwhile Belgium have won three and drawn three, matching Mexico with a 1-1 result on April 1st.
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