Croatia VS Portugal Match Prediction

There have only been three meetings between these two nations in history, with Portugal coming out on top in all three games. The most recent fixture between Croatia and Portugal ended in a 1-0 win to Portugal - in fact, Croatia have yet to even score a single goal against Portugal. 

The only competitive meeting between the sides happened in the 1996 European Championship, with Portugal running out 3-0 winners, but it is unlikely they win this match as easily as that one.

Croatia v Portugal: Prediction

Portugal may have star quality in the form of Ronaldo, but Croatia have been arguably the best team at the finals so far and the return of Modric will give them a sizeable boost for this match. Croatia's weaknesses at the back were exposed by Spain in their final group match, so this has the potential to be a very entertaining match, but Croatia should come out on top.

Croatia v Portugal: Betting Tips

Croatia can be backed at 17/10 to win the game in 90 minutes and they are offered at a very tempting 5/6 to go through to the next round of Euro 2016. A draw in 90 minutes is available at a price of 21/10, while Portugal are the 2/1 outsiders for this round-of-16 clash. Both teams to score catches the eye at 6/5 given the attacking quality on either side, while 2-1 Croatia looks like a great pick from the correct scores market, priced at as large as 11/1 with some outlets.

Beating Spain 2-1 was one of the shock results of the tournament and Croatia are now certainly considered genuine contenders at Euro 2016, especially since they are in the side of the draw that is perceived to be weaker. 

Luka Modric is fit to return in midfield, while Nikola Kalinic justified his inclusion in the Spain game with a goal, meaning Mario Mandzukic could miss out. Ivan Perisic has been among the stars of the tournament, scoring two goals and providing an assist.

Croatia likely XI: 

Subasic, Srna, Corluka, Jedvaj, Vrsaljko, Badelj, Modric, Rakitic, Brozovic, Perisic, Kalinic.

A thrilling 3-3 draw with Hungary was the best game of the tournament so far and just about enough to see Portugal into the next round, although they had to score three equalisers. Two of those came from Cristiano Ronaldo, who opened his account for Euro 2016 and set a new record after scoring in four successive European Championships. 

Renato Sanches made a positive difference from the bench and could start here, while Raphael Guerreiro could be fit to return at left-back in place of Eliseu, who struggled against Hungary.

Portugal likely XI: 

Patricio, Vieirinha, Pepe, R Carvalho, Guerreiro, W Carvalho, Sanches, Moutinho, Ronaldo, Nani, Quaresma. 

Portugal would not have qualified if it were not for the determined performance of Ronaldo in the last round and the team are simply too reliant on the Real Madrid star. Croatia have a number of different goal threats and Modric knits their play together superbly, with the likes of Rakitic and Perisic also having highly impressive tournaments. Croatia to go through, perhaps by a single goal.

Croatia have never even scored a single goal against Portugal in three games.