Croatia drew 2-2 against Albania in the Euro 2024

The Croatian national team failed to win in its first two matches at Euro 2024. The age factor is one of the reasons why the Croatian National Team's progress at Euro 2024 looks quite unsteady. The Kockasti played the second matchday of Group B Euro 2024 when they met Albania at Hamburg Stadium, on Wednesday(19th June) with a scoreline of 2-2.

Croatia took the lead through Andrej Kramaric's goal and Klaus Gjasula's own goal. Three points were in sight for Zlatco Dalic's troops. However, in the 90+5 minute, Gjasula broke into Croatia's goal and scored of the important goals for Albania. Now, Croatia is at the bottom of Group B after 2 games, Luka Modric and his teammates have only won one point. The Croatian national team advanced to the 2018 World Cup final. Four years later, Croatia was able to reach third place after winning 2-1 over Morocco, it is hoped that this slick record can be repeated at Euro 2024.

However, what happened on the field did not go as expected, Croatia lost their first two games and Dalic has reasons to explain it. "The WC was 2 years ago and our players are getting older," said Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic. Modric, who is the team's main engine, is now 38 years old. Brozovic (31), Kovacic (30), and Kramaric (33) are also no longer young. They are the ones that Croatia has relied on in major tournaments.

Croatia still has a chance to qualify for the round of 16 because, apart from the two teams at the top of the standings, the three best places could be Croatia's target. Four of the six third-place teams will qualify for the Round of 16 however,  Kockasti has a very difficult path to just reaching third place because, on the last matchday of Group B, Croatia will face the Italian national team.

"The Euros have shown us that everyone is going through difficult times. For Portugal it was difficult for them to win against the Czech Republic and also for England against Serbia," said Dalic.