Croatia beat France 2-0 in Nations League quarter-final first leg

Spain snatched a stoppage-time equaliser against 10-man Netherlands to secure a 2-2 draw on Thursday that kept up a two-year unbeaten streak and gave the holders the advantage in their Nations League quarter-final tie.

WRAP: Croatia's forward Ante Budimir (R) celebrates with Croatia's midfielder #10 Luka Modric after scoring the opening goal. Pic: DAMIR SENCAR/AFP via Getty Images

Croatia's Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic struck to secure a deserved 2-0 win over France in their Nations League quarter-final, first leg on Thursday, as the return of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele failed to get the visitors to fire.

Croatia also missed an early penalty when Andrej Kramaric’s spot-kick was saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, and the 2023 runners-up were full value for a win that might easily have been achieved by a greater margin.