Portugal - Croatia. Predicted line-ups and latest news

On 8 June, Portugal will play at the Estadio Nacional for the first time in 10 years in a friendly match against Croatia.

Both teams have already had a sparring session each in preparation for Euro 2024. The Portuguese defeated Finland 4-2 on 4 June, while the Croatians defeated North Macedonia 3-0 the day before.

However, the calendar at the European Championship affects the further preparation of the teams. The Portuguese will play their first match at the tournament on 18 June, so they can afford one more sparring against Ireland, which will be held a week before the opening match.

But the Balkan team will start the tournament three days earlier, so the head coach of Croatia Zlatko Dalic will give the players a week's rest before the match against Spain.

This will also affect the choice of coaches for the face-to-face match. It is expected that Roberto Martinez will give playing time to the main star of the Portuguese national team Cristiano Ronaldo, who was not included in the application form for the match against the Finns.

Diogo Costa, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot are also expected to be in the starting line-up for the game against Croatia. The fact that Portugal will have another friendlies gives Martinez room for manoeuvre, and a couple of centre-backs for the game with the "chequered" can be Antonio Silva and Ruben Dias.

As for the Croats, it is possible that Zlatko Dalic's selection for this friendly will be similar to the match against North Macedonia, that is, the strongest.

There should be changes again at half-time, but Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric may well retain their places in the line-up. A notable change is expected in the defensive line, with Josko Guardiola, who did not feature against North Macedonia, expected to be in the starting line-up.

Based on these facts, the Dailysports team has prepared predicted line-ups for the Portugal vs Croatia match.

Portugal predicted line-up

Costa - Dalot, Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva, Cancelo - Fernandes, Palhinha, Bernardo Silva - Leão, Ronaldo, Jota.

Croatia predicted line-up

Livakovic - Sosa, Guardiol, Vida, Juranovic - Kovacic, Modric - Perisic, Kramaric, Meyer - Petkovic.

The Portugal vs Croatia match will take place on 8 June at the Estadio Nacional stadium in the Portuguese city of Oeiras, which is located near the capital Lisbon. Kick-off is at 18:45 CET.