France 2-0 Croatia (agg 2-2, 5-4 on pens): Hosts will face Spain in semi-finals

France progressed to the semi-finals of the Nations League thanks to a dramatic 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory over Croatia.

Match Report

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, second-half goals from Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele saw Les Bleus fight back to level the last-eight tie at the Stade de France in Paris.

Having taken command of the shoot-out when Mike Maignan saved from Martin Baturina and Franjo Ivanovic ballooned over, France saw themselves pegged back when Jules Kounde also blasted over and Theo Hernandez fired high and wide.

But Josip Stanisic was also thwarted by Maignan, allowing Dayot Upamecano to shoot high into the goal and book Didier Deschamps' men a last-four date with Spain.

France sought to press the issue from the off and William Saliba headed over from Dembele's left-wing cross before Kylian Mbappe shot wide on the spin from eight yards.

Aurelien Tchouameni flicked a near-post header past the right post and Olise saw penalty shouts waved away by Michael Oliver after tussling with Duje Caleta-Car.

Olise then made the breakthrough with a terrific 20-yard free-kick into the top-right corner in the 52nd minute, before Tchouameni sent another header wide.

Mbappe swept wide after great work from Dembele but the latter made no such error when he brilliantly side-footed home Olise's centre with 10 minutes of normal time remaining to level the tie.

Desire Doue was kept out from range and Mbappe was denied one on one in extra time as penalties were required to settle the tie.

A back-and-forth shoot-out followed but ultimately it was Maignan who proved the hero, with the Milan goalkeeper keeping out Stanisic and Upamecano keeping his cool to finally send Les Bleus through.

Data Debrief: Shot-shy Croatia pay the price

Croatia were well in command of this tie after winning the first leg 2-0, but on this occasion they failed to muster a single shot on target.

That marked the first time they had ever failed to record a shot on target in the Nations League, and it could hardly have come at a worse time.

France, conversely, had 28 shots to their name, which represented the most they have managed in the 2024-25 Nations League.

Eight of those were attempted by captain and Real Madrid star Mbappe, the most by any France player in the Nations League.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

14' Mbappe goes close to opening the scoring as he turns and shoots wide

16' Olise's corner finds Tchouaméni, who can't quite keep his effort on target

22' Olise gets down in the box but the referee says no penalty

27' Dembélé sends in a cross which finds Mbappé who can't steer his effort on target

40' Olise plays the ball through and Barcola is in one-on-one but his shot is denied

52' GOAL! Olise curls his free-kick over the wall! France 1-0 Croatia

61' Match Event for France vs Croatia

70' Olise lines up another free-kick but Šutalo deflects the ball out for a corner

74' Match Event for France vs Croatia

80' GOAL! Dembele scores from Olise's assist to make France 2-2 Croatia on aggregate

98' Livaković demonstrates his reflexes to once again deny Doué

108' It's another excellent save from Livaković to deny Mbappe from close range

120' Highlight from France vs Croatia

Line-ups

France XI: Maignan, Dembele, Theo, Mbappe, Upamecano, Kounde, Tchouameni, Saliba, Manu Koné, Olise, Barcola

Subs: Digne, Jonathan Clauss, Brice Samba, Rabiot, Pavard, Konate, Guendouzi, Muani, Camavinga, Lucas Chevalier, Zaire-Emery, Doue

Croatia XI: Modric, Perisic, Budimir, Kramaric, Kovacic, D. Livaković, Caleta-Car, Stanisic, Josip Sutalo, Gvardiol, Petar Sucic

Subs: Pasalic, Ivica Ivusic, Borna Sosa, Vlasic, Nikola Moro, Josip Juranovic, Kristijan Jakic, Marin Pongračić, Kotarski, Toni Fruk, Martin Baturina, Franjo Ivanovic