Luka Modric’s early penalty gave Croatia a 1-0 win over off-form France in Paris on Monday as the World Cup holders finished their June run of UEFA Nations League matches without a victory in four outings.

Veteran Croatia captain Modric stroked in his spot-kick after just five minutes at the Stade de France, and the home side could not find an equaliser despite Kylian Mbappe returning to join Karim Benzema in the starting line-up.

France won the previous edition of the Nations League last year but they have managed just two points from their four outings this month, with home defeats against Denmark and now Croatia sandwiching draws away to the Croats and in Austria.

 

Continue reading this article on Sports Desk, the new sports website by Times of Malta

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.