UEFA Nations League: 5 countries that shone and 5 countries that flopped

Flop #2 Croatia

England v Croatia - UEFA Nations League A

Another country which has had a ‘Golden Generation’ of players underperforming in recent years, The Chequered Army finally stamped their authority on a global tournament at the World Cup in Russia where they finished in second place.

Led by Modric’s Golden Ball winning performance, Croatia showed excellent technicality in topping their group, with their highlight performance being a 3-0 whopping of a spineless Argentina.

They won further admirers around the globe as they showed great determination and guts to overcome three knockout round matches in extra-time, despite falling behind in every one of them. They might have finished as runners-up, but Croatia left with their heads held high, and were winners in a lot of people’s minds.

They were handed what was arguably one of the toughest groups in the draws, as they were paired with Spain and fellow World Cup semi-finalists England, and even though it was expected to be tough, fans around the world believed that Croatia would build on their impressive showing at the Mundial.

They began their campaign with a debilitating performance in Spain where they were mauled 6-0 by the 2010 World Champions (less than three months on from their World Cup heroics), and followed that up with a dour display in a 0-0 stalemate with England at home.

They rallied back to defeat Spain 3-2 at the death in their penultimate match and headed to Wembley knowing that a victory over England would see them advance to the semi-final of the Nations League as group 4 winners.

Everything seemed to be falling in line courtesy Kramaric’s early deflected shot in the second half, and Croatia seemed set to top the group and condemn England to relegation. However, The Three Lions showed great defiance and came back to produce a stirring 2-1 victory with two goals in the final five minutes, exacting revenge for their World Cup semi-final loss, and advancing to the semi-final to be staged in Portugal next year.

Croatia suffered relegation, and as a consequence would play in League B when the next season of the Nations League commences in 2019, and this is a sad descent from the highs of the World Cup just five months ago.