Croatia vs Albania

Volksparkstadion sets the stage for a must-win Euro 2024 Group B showdown between Croatia and Albania as the two nations meet for the first time.

Croatia’s Euro 2024 campaign started with a whimper rather than a bang as Spain thrashed them 3-0 in their Group B opener, arresting their six-game unbeaten streak beforehand (W5, D1 – 90 minutes only). It was also Croatia’s third defeat across their last five competitive outings (W2) and the first time they had conceded 3+ goals in a single game since Argentina outclassed them 3-0 in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals. Zlatko Dalic’s men will hope to turn the script in Hamburg, perhaps buoyed by the fact they’ve not lost back-to-back matches at the same major international tournament since Euro 1996. Croatia commenced the last Euros with a loss ‘to nil’ but progressed into the knockouts, a feat they’ll be keen to replicate this summer.

On the other hand, Albania’s second appearance at the European Championships was off to a flying start as Sassuolo’s Nedim Bajrami scored the quickest goal in the tournament’s history. But despite breaking the deadlock only 23 seconds into their game against Italy, the Albanians succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. Their overall record at the tournament now reads W1, L3, but they’ll be confident of improving it after avoiding two consecutive matches in competitive action since September 2022. That loss to Italy marked the end of Albania’s seven-game unbeaten streak in competitive games (W4, D3). If they’re to launch a new run, Sylvinho’s men must do something they’ve failed to achieve in the past nine years and beat a nation ranked inside FIFA’s top-10 for the first time since 2015.