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’s header bounced off France goalkeeper Mike Maignan and spun into the net as the hosts took a 26th-minute lead.
Former Tottenham winger Ivan Persic fired home a crisp finish into the bottom corner to increase their advantage in first-half added time.
Croatia could have been ahead earlier, but Andrej Kramaric’s eighth-minute penalty was saved by Maignan with his feet, while Josko Gvardiol’s powerful shot from long range was also kept out by the AC Milan keeper.
France now face a tough task to turn the tie around in Sunday’s second leg at the Stade de France (19:45 GMT).
They have failed to win any of their last three matches when conceding first in the Nations League, since a victory over Spain in October 2021.
Mbappe, who has scored 20 La Liga goals in his debut season for Real Madrid, made his return to the French side after a six-month absence.
But he not could not inspire them, despite having six shots in the match.
In other first-leg quarterfinal matches, Germany came from behind to beat Italy 2-1, defending champion Spain salvaged a 2-2 draw against the 10-man Netherlands, and Denmark beat Portugal 1-0.
The winners will qualify for the four-team final tournament on June 4-8. The second-leg matches are scheduled for Sunday.