October 25, 2021 - The latest news on the Croatian national football team, as Zlatko Dalić announces a list of 24 players called up and another 6 players on stand-by for the matches against Malta and Russia in November, the last two to define the qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Croatian national football team will face their Maltese counterparts in Ta 'Qali on November 11 at 8:45 p.m. And on November 14, at 3:00 p.m., Croatia will host the Russian national team at the Poljud to define the winner of Group H. Dalić and his players beat Cyprus 3-0 and drew 2-2 against Slovakia in Osijek in the previous round of matches. Now, in their last two group matches, they hope to take all six points to seal their direct qualification to the Qatar World Cup in 2022 and avoid the playoffs. It will not be easy since, in addition to visiting Malta, they will face their direct rival for qualification, Russia.
(Croatian Football Federation on Facebook)
For the matches against Malta and Russia, Dalić has presented a roster of 24 players and another six on stand-by. Compared to their last list to face Cyprus and Slovakia, it is worth highlighting that Dalić announces the return of Simon Sluga (Luton Town) in goal, and Duje Ćaleta-Car (Marseille) and Marin Pongračić (Dortmund) in defense, thus leaving Filip Uremović (Rubin Kazan) and Mile Škorić (Osijek) on the stand-by list, and Ivica Ivušić of Osijek is no longer among the 30 named by Dalić. Those would be the only changes to the 24-player roster, while goalkeeper Lovre Kalinić (Hajduk) is new to the stand-by roster. Nikola Moro (Dinamo Moscow), Antonio-Mirko Čolak (Malmo), and Kristijan Lovrić (Gorica) reappear on the provisional list.
The tickets for the match against Russia at Poljud are already on sale, and according to the Federation, more than 10,000 have already been sold.
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