In the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals on Thursday, Croatia defeated France 2-0, despite facing the attacking duo of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Ante Budimir put Croatia ahead with a header in the 26th minute from a cross by Ivan Perišić, with France’s goalkeeper Mike Maignan almost stopping the ball before it crossed the line. Perišić extended the lead just before halftime in Split, spoiling Mbappé’s comeback after a six-month absence from the national team. Andrej Kramarić missed a penalty in the eighth minute which was saved by Maignan, diving to his right and using his feet to make the crucial stop. Despite Mbappé’s numerous attempts in the first half, Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livaković made some impressive saves to keep him at bay. Both Mbappé and Dembélé have surpassed the 30-goal mark this season, with the former captaining France for the first time since September. Mbappé, who plays for Real Madrid, is the third-highest scorer in France’s history with 48 goals but has struggled to find the net in recent international matches. In other quarterfinal matches, Germany came from behind to beat Italy 2-1, defending champions Spain held the 10-man Netherlands to a 2-2 draw, and Denmark defeated Portugal 1-0. The victorious teams will advance to the final tournament from June 4-8, with the second legs slated for Sunday. More soccer news can be found at AP: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer.
