Croatia vs Albania: Preview, predictions and lineups

Grit meets technical mastery in Hamburg on Wednesday afternoon as Croatia and Albania, both defeated in their opening Euro 2024 matches, face off in Group B.

2018 World Cup finalists Croatia were brought back down to earth by a majestic Spain performance in their first game, with Luis de la Fuente's side blowing the ageing Vatreni away in the first half on their way to a 3-0 victory.

Croatia's improvement after Zlatko Dalic rang the changes offers room for optimism heading into match two, but Albania proved against Italy that they haven't arrived in Germany to merely make up the numbers.

Sylvinho's men gave the holders an almighty score to open up the tournament as Nedim Bajrami pounced on Federico Dimarco's loose throw-in to net the fastest goal in the competition's history. Italy then settled, though; taking a 2-1 lead before managing the contest down the stretch.

Thus, defeats for these two sides on Matchday 1 renders Wednesday's duel a seismic one in terms of group qualification. With Spain and Italy now likely to advance as the top two, Croatia and Albania could be fighting to progress as one of the four best performing third-place finishers.

Here is 90min's guide to Croatia vs Albania at Euro 2024.

What time does Croatia vs Albania kick off?

• Location: Hamburg, Germany
• Venue: Volkparkstadion
• Date: Wednesday 19 June
• Kick-off time: 14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT
• Referee: Francois Letexier (FRA)
• VAR: Willy Delajod (FRA)

Croatia vs Albania H2H record

This is the first competitive meeting between these two nations.

Current form (all competitions)

How to watch Croatia vs Albania on TV and live stream

Croatia team news

Dalic could reshuffle his defence and return Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol to the centre of it with Borna Sosa coming in at left-back. The Ajax man featured heavily at the 2022 World Cup.

Marcelo Brozovic's place in the XI is also in doubt, with the manager potentially adding Atalanta's Mario Pasalic to his engine room. He could join Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic in the middle of the park.

Ivan Perisic isn't quite up to full fitness following his lengthy injury layoff.

Croatia predicted lineup vs Albania

Croatia predicted lineup (4-3-3): Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Kovacic; Pasalic, Majer, Kramaric; Petkovic.

Albania team news

While Croatia have no fresh injury concerns from their tournament opener, Albania left their defeat to Italy with one notable issue.

Spritely forward Jasir Asani is a major doubt for Wednesday's game after picking up an ankle injury on Saturday. His absence may see Ray Manaj make his first start of Euro 2024, although Arber Hoxha is a more like-for-like replacement.

Albania predicted lineup vs Croatia

Albania predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Strakosha; Hysaj, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Mitaj; Asllani, Ramadani; Laci, Bajrami, Hoxha; Broja

Croatia vs Albania score prediction

Despite both sustaining defeats, one side heads into Wednesday's game in a much brighter mood.

There would've been genuine concerns surrounding Croatia's performance against Spain on Saturday, even if the Iberians appear as if they could enjoy a deep run this summer. Albania, on the contrary, gave an excellent account of themselves in a contest they certainly weren't expected to get anything from.

Croatia looked sluggish and, putting it candidly, old on Matchday 1. While their technical brilliance will allow them to control games, Albania's vigour and grit could overwhelm Dalic's seasoned outfit in Hamburg.

This is a difficult contest for the favourites, and Albania may do enough to earn a point.

Prediction: Croatia 1-1 Albania

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