Croatia vs France | Croatia vs. France - Football Match Report - October 15, 2020

Frank Leboeuf says Didier Deschamps is the key to unlocking Paul Pogba's talent and effort. (1:19) How Didier Deschamps is able to get the best from Paul Pogba (1:19) This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday. - UEFA Nations League on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only) - Replay: Mbappe nets winner over Croatia in World Cup final rematch The result left France second in the group on 10 points from four games, behind Portugal on goal difference after the European champions brushed aside Sweden 3-0. Croatia have three points and the Swedes none. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 World Cup final before defeating them by the same score in last month's reverse Nations League fixture. "We knew we'd be in a real battle," France coach Didier Deschamps told French TF1 television. "We started very well and it's a pity we didn't go two goals clear as Kylian had a big chance. We did what we needed to do in the second half. "It's not because we won a trophy in 2018 that you win by clicking your fingers. You have to look at the way the opponents play too." Antoine Griezmann fired France into an eighth-minute lead when he drilled the ball home off the underside of the bar from 12 metres after Domagoj Vida failed to clear a Ferland Mendy cross from the right. Mbappe missed a gilt-edged opportunity to make it 2-0 as he shot wide from close range with the goal at his mercy, while visiting keeper Hugo Lloris kept out Mario Pasalic's shot from three metres with a reflex save. Croatia midfielder Nikola Vlasic equalised in the 65th minute, unleashing a sublime shot with the outside of his foot past Lloris after good work by Luka Modric and Josip Brekalo. Substitute Paul Pogba missed a sitter for France before the visitors secured victory 11 minutes from time. It was a crafty three-touch move as Pogba found Lucas Digne with a long pass from inside his own half and the left back volleyed a cross into the penalty area for Mbappe to slide in and steer the ball past keeper Dominik Livakovic. "France are ruthlessly efficient and they will punish you every time you switch off, even for a split second," he told reporters. "Playing against them is very frustrating because you can be as entertaining as you like but to no avail. The three points is all that matters." France beat Croatia 4-2 in the Nations League last month - the same outcome, of course, as the 2018 World Cup final. A trip to Zagreb might prove tougher for Didier Deschamps’ side, who could only draw with Portugal at the weekend. Sunday’s scoreless stalemate at the Stade de France leaves the world champions adrift of Portugal in top spot on goal difference. France will therefore be keen to rack up the goals here, and Croatia will have to tighten up significantly having conceded nine goals in three games so far this season. France may have failed to make a breakthrough against Portugal, but they did find the net seven times in a friendly with Ukraine a few days prior. Deschamps has been using an attack-minded 4-3-1-2 formation in recent matches, with Antoine Griezmann deployed in a No.10 role behind Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud. The Chelsea striker could make way for the trip to Croatia, with Manchester United’s Anthony Martial pushing to start alongside Mbappe. Former Arsenal target Houssem Aouar will hope to be restored to the starting XI after dropping out for the Portugal game, but Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante are likely to keep their places in the engine room. Elsewhere, Everton’s Lucas Digne could come in for Lucas Hernandez at left-back. Croatia picked up their first win of the Nations League season on Sunday, beating Sweden 2-1 thanks to goals from Nikola Vlasic and Andrej Kramaric. That followed on from a 2-1 victory over Switzerland last week, so Zlatko Dalic’s men will be in a confident mood ahead of Wednesday’s game. They’ll also know that anything less than a win would essentially end their hopes of qualifying for the Nations League Finals. Luka Modric was used in a more advanced role against Sweden but is likely to be pushed deeper here, while Kramaric will hope to start after his goal as a substitute last time out. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST and the game is being shown on Sky Sports Red Button in the UK. 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