World European Preliminaries-Croatia VS Gibraltar: The strongest spear meets the weakest shield

In the last round, Croatia drew 0:0 with the Czech Republic, the strongest competitor in the group, in an away game. Although they failed to expand their lead, after the game, head coach Dalic, who has coached Croatia for 100 games, still expressed satisfaction with the result. Playing away against a strong opponent is not just to take away a point. "We always prepare with the most rigorous and professional attitude, and the goal is to get as many points as possible. The key today is to avoid losing points. We are not just seeking a draw, but trying to win. We did our best in the second half, and Zhu Zihong returned with 1 point satisfied."

Leading the standings with one round remaining, Croatia still has the initiative to compete for the top spot in the group and directly advance to the 2026 World Cup.

Croatia VS Gibraltar

Nature of the match: Round 8 of Group L of the World Cup European Group Stage

Match time: 2:45 on October 13

Croatia currently has 4 wins from 5 games in Group L Ranked first with 13 points from 1 draw, second Czech Republic with 13 points from 6 games, 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and at a disadvantage on goal difference, third Faroe Islands with 9 points from 6 games, 3 wins and 3 losses, fourth Montenegro with 6 points from 6 games, 2 wins and 4 losses, bottom Gibraltar with 0 points after losing all 5 games.

In 5 games, Croatia scored 17 goals and conceded 1 goal. Both offense and defense were the strongest in the group. Gibraltar, which scored 2 goals and conceded 17 goals in the same period, has the worst offense and defense in the group.

Croatia is currently ranked 9th in the world by FIFA, with a total team value of 308 million euros. Gibraltar is currently ranked 200th in the world by FIFA, and the total value of the team is only 1.55 million euros, which shows the huge disparity in strength between the two sides.

If the 40-year-old Ronaldo and the 38-year-old Messi are playing the main role in the national team and will participate in the 2026 World Cup, they are "just soy sauce". Then the 40-year-old Modric is playing the main role in the national team and will participate in the 2026 World Cup. They rely on their absolute strength!

In the last round of away game against the Czech Republic, Modric started and played the entire game in a 0:0 draw.

In the new season at AC Milan, Modric played 8 games, starting all 6 Serie A games, 2 Coppa Italia games, 1 game as a substitute, and 1 rest game, helping AC Milan rank third in Serie A and advance to the third round of the Coppa Italia. In the three World Cup preliminaries this season, Modric also maintained full attendance. Croatia won 2 and drew 1, firmly ranking first in the group.

After the 0:0 draw with Croatia, Czech coach Ivan Hasek said: "I did not ask him to mark Modric in normal games, but Sulk will be responsible for watching him at certain moments. I asked him to try to consume the opponent's physical energy, but it is really difficult to tire Modric. Modric is still incredibly strong at this age."

Croatia has 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the past 10 games in all competitions.

Gibraltar has lost 3 of its last 10 games in all competitions, with 3 draws and 7 losses, and has lost 7 games in a row recently.

In the last two meetings between the two sides, Croatia achieved a complete victory, scoring 11 goals and conceding 0 goals.

The difference in strength is too great. In this battle, there is no suspense about Croatia's victory.