• Home
  • Football

Czech Republic vs Croatia Predictions & Betting Tips - Croatia’s Experience to Count in the UEFA Nations League

matthew-marshall
Editor
Last updated: Tue 22 Sep 2026 14:12
Croatia, under returning coach Slaven Bilic, head to Prague with a vastly experienced squad featuring several players with over 100 caps. In contrast, the Czech Republic begin a new era with an inexperienced team and new manager Santi Denia. Recent stats strongly favor Croatia, who are undefeated in their last nine games and have an excellent H2H record. The smart money is on Croatia to win, thanks to their defensive solidity and depth of experience, as the Czech Republic rebuild under Denia.
Matthew Marshall 1 hour ago
Share this article
Or copy link
  • Croatia have four players with over 100 caps
  • Czech Republic have an inexperienced squad and manager
  • I am backing Croatia to be too strong in Prague
Czechia Croatia 2025
Czechia met Croatia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers (Getty)

Czech Republic begin a new era under Santi Denia who might need some time to sort out an inexperienced squad.

Croatia have no such issues and with Slaven Bilic back in charge, I am backing the visitors to win.

HTH


Croatia have never lost against Czech Republic, leading 2-0 alongside four draws. 

New Era for Czechia


Czech Republic are coming off a disappointing World Cup campaign where they failed to win a game.

Ladislav Krejci opened the scoring against South Korea but they lost control in Guadalajara and went down 2-1. Michal Sadilek scored in the 6th minute against South Africa, but once again they fell apart and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Miroslav Koubek’s last game in charge was a 3-0 defeat to Mexico. They went into half-time 0-0 but couldn’t stick with the hosts in the second half.

Santi Denia replaced Koubek to become the first foreign manager to lead the Czech side. The 52-year-old Spaniard led ⁠Spain's team to gold at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Czech Republic Squad, Team News & Predicted Line Up


Goalkeepers: Matej Kovar, Lukas Hornicek, Antonin Kinsky
Defenders: Vladimir Coufal, Ladislav Krejci, Robin Hranac, Martin Vitik, Stepan Chaloupek, Matej Rynes, Michal Sacek, Ondrej Kricfalusi, Jiri Slama
Midfielders: Alex Kral, Michal Sadilek, Ondrej Lingr, Lukas Cerv, Adam Karabec, Pavel Bucha, Lukas Ambros, Roman Macek, Matej Radosta, Martin Subert
Forwards: Adam Hlozek, Pavel Sulc, Vaclav Sejk, Daniel Vasulin

Santi Denia has rung the changes here with eight players in line to make their debuts. Just one player has more than 50 caps, Vladimir Coufal.

David Zima, David Jurasek, Lukas Provod and Tomas Chory are injured and 30-year-old Patrik Schick has retired from international football.

The striker made the announcement after his team was eliminated from the World Cup: “I am leaving proud of what I have achieved in the national team jersey. But at the same time with the feeling that Czech soccer has much more to offer than it has shown in recent years.”

Czech Republic (4-2-3-1): Lukas Hornicek; Vladimir Coufal, Ladislav Krejci, Martin Vitik, Jiri Slama; Michal Sadilek, Lukas Cerv; Lukas Ambros, Pavel Sulc, Adam Karabec; Adam Hlozek

Veterans Remain for Croatia


Croatia started the World Cup with a 4-2 defeat against England but bounced back to get out of the group stage.

Ante Budimir scored in a narrow 1-0 win against Panama. Nikola Vlasic’s late goal secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over Ghana, their third straight game with less than 10 shots.

Ivan Perisic opened the scoring against Portugal in the Round of 32 but the Blazers couldn’t make it count, conceding in the 94th minute to go down 2-1 in Toronto.

Zlatko Dalic stepped down after nine years in charge with Slaven Bilic returning to the role he occupied from 2006 to 2012.

Croatia Squad, Team News & Predicted Line Up


Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic, Dominik Kotarski, Ivor Pandur
Defenders: Josko Gvardiol, Josip Sutalo, Josip Stanisic, Marin Pongracic, Luka Vuskovic, Ivan Smolcic
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Mario Pasalic, Nikola Vlasic, Lovro Majer, Martin Baturina, Luka Sucic, Petar Sucic, Kristijan Jakic, Josip Misic
Forwards: Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, Ante Budimir, Marco Pasalic, Petar Musa, Igor Matanovic, Franjo Ivanovic, Dion Drena Beljo

Martin Erlic and Josip Juranovic withdrew due to injury and Duje Caleta-Car misses out after being in the World Cup squad.

Veterans Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric remain in the squad, all players with over 100 caps each.

Croatia (4-2-3-1): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Marin Pongracic, Josko Gvardiol; Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic; Nikola Vlasic, Petar Sucic, Martin Baturina; Igor Matanovic

Verdict

Croatia continue with their experienced squad under Slaven Bilic who returns to international management. I think Czech Republic will find it hard to cope in this one, an away win on the cards in Prague.

Best Bet1: Croatia Win Full Time Result @6/5 at bet365 - 4 Units
Croatia Win
Full Time Result
@6/5 - 4 Units
Bet £10 Get £30
with bonus code NEWBONUS

Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5 or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30 in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Registration required. Time limits and T&Cs apply. The bonus code NEWBONUS can be used during registration but does not change the offer amount in any way. #ad

Bet at bet365
matthew-marshall
Matthew Marshall

Football & Tennis Editor/Writer • Portuguese Football Expert, ATP Tour Tennis Writer

Matthew Marshall is an Australian who worked in a number of industries before combining his love of football and media communications degree to become a sports journalist. Now living in Portugal, he is a Portuguese football expert at PortuGOAL and has covered multiple UEFA U21 European Championships, the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 European Championship.


Recent Tipping Results:


2025/26 Liga Portugal
Tips: 355
✅ Wins: 138
📈 Profit/Loss: +88.68 Units
💰 ROI 12.89

Read More

Top Betting Sites

special-offer-1Betting offers

Upcoming Events

26 Sep 2026

Czechia v Croatia

days

hours

min

Add to Calendar
Hear more from Freetips.com