Deschamps has said he will depart after the 2026 FIFA World Cup but, having scraped above Italy in League A of the UEFA Nations League after a very disappointing UEFA EURO 2024 showing, they are now on the verge of a UNL quarter-final exit.

France will visit Croatia for a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final when the team coached by Didier Deschamps won the tournament after an exciting 4-2 win. Now, the two sides meet again seven years later for the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal with the second leg to happen on Sunday in Paris while the winner of this tie will meet the winning team of the matchup between Spain and Netherlands.

Croatia contained the attacking duo of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé in a 2-0 victory over France in the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals Thursday. Ante Budimir headed Croatia ahead in the 26th minute off a cross from Ivan Perišić with France goalkeeper Mike Maignan partially blocking the ball before it crossed the line.