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Croatia will host North Macedonia at the Stadion Rujevica on Monday in a friendly clash between the two teams. The home side will play in the European Championship this summer, marking their sixth consecutive appearance in the continental showpiece and will kick off preparations for the tournament next week.
They picked up a 4-2 comeback victory over Egypt in their last match, with four different players getting on the scoresheet including Torino's Nikola Vlasic who netted his first international goal since 2021.
North Macedonia, meanwhile, failed to impress in the Euro qualifiers last year and will play no part in the tournament in Germany later this month. They were beaten 1-0 by Montenegro in their last match and perhaps deserved more from the game but failed to convert their chances.
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Croatia vs North Macedonia Head-to-Head
There have been eight meetings between Croatia and North Macedonia. The home side have won five of those games while the visitors have won once. There have been two draws between the two teams.
The two sides last faced off in a World Cup qualifying clash back in 2012 which the hosts won 2-1.
Croatia Form Guide (All Competitions): W-W-W-W-L
North Macedonia Form Guide (All Competitions): L-D-D-L-W
Croatia vs North Macedonia Team News
Croatia
The Vatreni have named their 26-man squad for Euro 2024, although team captain Luka Modric will likely miss Monday's game due to his obligations with Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday. Rangers Borna Barisic is perhaps the most notable absentee from the squad while 21-year-old Martin Baturina is set to play in his first major tournament after an impressive campaign at Dinamo Zagreb.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Luka Modric
North Macedonia
Team captain Enis Bardhi has withdrawn from the squad after suffering an injury at Trabzonspor on the final day of the season. Motherwell's Davor Zdravkovski has, however, been named in the squad and is in line to make his international debut next week.
Injured: Enis Bardhi
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Croatia vs North Macedonia Predicted XI
Croatia Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanisic, Domagoj Vida, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa; Mateo Kovacic, Mario Pasalic; Lovro Majer, Nikola Vlasic, Marko Pjaca; Bruno Petkovic
North Macedonia Predicted XI (3-5-2): Stole Dimitrievski; Gjoko Zajkov, Visar Musliu, Darko Velkovski; Darko Churlinov, Jani Atanasov, Agon Elezi, Timohir Kostadinov, Ezgjan Alioski; Eljif Elmas, Bojan Miovski
Croatia vs North Macedonia Prediction
Croatia are on a four-game winning streak and have won six of their last eight games across all competitions. They have lost just one of their last six home games and will be looking forward to the midweek clash.
North Macedonia are on a four-game winless streak and have won just two of their last 10 games across all competitions. The sheer gulf in class and quality between the two teams should see the home side come out on top here.
Prediction: Croatia 2-0 North Macedonia
