February 12, 2020 - The Croatia national football team will open June with a friendly match against Turkey in Osijek as part of their preparations for the European Championship.
Gol.hr reports that while waiting for confirmation of the two friendly matches that the 2018 World Cup finalists will play in March, the Croatian Football Federation has confirmed the first of two friendly games to be played in June.
Namely, on June 1, just before the Euro 2020 begins, Croatia will welcome Turkey at the City Garden Stadium for their first friendly preparatory match. Turkey will also play at the Euros and is currently the 29th best national team in the world in the FIFA rankings.
The second friendly match before the start of the European Championship should be played on June 8 in Nice against France, though we are still waiting for the official confirmation of that match.
The meeting between Croatia and Turkey in Osijek will be the tenth jubilee match between these two teams. Several of these meetings are very memorable.
At the Euros in 1996, it was Turkey that was Croatia's historic first opponent in major competitions, and thanks to Goran Vlaovic's goal, it also became the first Croatia win. Croatia also beat Turkey 1:0 at the Euro 2016 with a brilliant goal by Luka Modric, and we certainly remember playing Turkey in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, with a glorious 3:0 victory in Istanbul.
On the other hand, we still cannot forget that Euro 2008 match when Turkey celebrated after a dramatic penalty shootout and thus advanced to the tournament semifinal.
Ticket prices and ticket sales for this friendly will be announced at a later date.
Recall, Croatia will play in the European Championship this summer in Group D against England, the Czech Republic, and the playoff winner of Nations League C.
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