Croatia vs Senegal 08/06/18

8 June 2018

After a 2-0 loss to Brazil last weekend, Croatia will host Senegal at the Stadion Gradski Vrtin Osijek hoping for a positive result ahead of their trip to Russia. Both sides will be at the World Cup, as Senegal finished top of their respective qualifying group with four wins out of six matches and without a single defeat, while the Blazers had to go around, through the playoff, after finishing second in the group behind Iceland. Zlatko Dalic’s team lost two out of three games in 2018, both against the teams from the CONMEBOL continental confederation, while Les Lions de la Téranga played out three consecutive draws this year, two of them against the European sides, Luxemburg and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It will be the first match between these two teams in history, and the first match Croatia face off an African national team since the 2014 World Cup group stage encounter with Cameroon.

Considering it is a final game of the World Cup warm-up for both teams, the managers will be looking to test all of those players that had fewer chances to play. After skipping the game against Brazil, Mario Mandzukicmight return to the first eleven, while Sadio Mane should join his fellow countrymen after the extended breather due to his commitments in the Champions League final.