Croatia vs Montenegro Prediction for 9 September 2025 - Football

🔈 Can Montenegro's national team keep their hopes alive for qualifying for the main stage of the World Cup? This coming Monday, the "Maksimir" stadium in Zagreb will host a clash between Croatia and Montenegro. The "Brave Falcons," after a promising start to the qualifiers, are struggling to find their best form and are gradually losing their chance to reach the main stage of the tournament. Bookmakers have set the following odds for the match: a win for the hosts at 1.26, and a victory for the visitors at 14.60.

Head-to-Head

📊 These national teams have never faced each other before.

Croatia Team Overview

🔵 Croatia's qualifying campaign has kicked off brilliantly. The "Checkered Ones" have secured victories in each of their last three matches. Currently, Zlatko Dalic's squad leads their qualification group in terms of points dropped. It's worth noting Croatia's remarkable efficiency in both attacking and defensive phases. Throughout the qualifiers, Croatia averages 4.33 goals per game while conceding just 0.33.

🔴 The recent clash against the Faroe Islands (1-0) proved challenging for Dalic's team. Despite their significant superiority in class, the "Checkered Ones" struggled to break through the tight defensive line of the "Fishermen," who lined up with five defenders. Andrej Kramaric's goal in the 31st minute remained the sole and decisive strike for Croatia in the match.

Montenegro Team Overview

🔴 Robert Prosinečki faces a tough challenge as he prepares his squad for a showdown against their compatriots. After a strong start to the qualifying campaign, where the "Brave Falcons" secured 6 points from a possible 6, they suffered back-to-back 0-2 defeats to the Czech national team. The clash with Croatia might be Montenegro's last chance to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the main stage of the World Cup.

🟡 Despite the "Brave Falcons'" efforts to outsmart the "People's Team" tactically, they couldn't secure any points in their recent qualifier. Robert Prosinečki employed a mid-block defense, allowing his team to quickly regain possession and launch aggressive flank attacks. Notably, Montenegro outshot the Czech Republic, with 22 attempts compared to 20. Such an intense style of play is bound to yield results for the Balkan side sooner or later.

Latest news

Croatia

🎤 After the narrow 1-0 victory over the Faroe Islands, Zlatko Dalic shared a few thoughts: “The result is all that matters and nothing more. We expected a tough match, but not to this extent... It felt like we were up against a top-5 team in the world. We made numerous mistakes, but the game is soon forgotten; the key is we secured three points. We struggled in transition phases, they caused us plenty of trouble, and we failed to capitalize on chances to extend our lead. There are plenty of reasons for our poor performance, from the artificial turf and weather to everything happening on the pitch. We had many changes in the lineup, with several players absent. I hope this won’t happen again.”

📰 The “Checkered Ones” boast a solid squad and should undoubtedly meet their goal of qualifying for the main stage of the World Cup. Currently, Croatia ranks 10th in the FIFA world rankings and has a roster valued at 224 million euros. The most valuable players are Josip Stanisic (32 million euros, Bayern), Josip Sutalo (24 million euros, Ajax), and Martin Baturina (22 million euros, Como).

Montenegro

📰 Currently, Montenegro hold the 77th position in the FIFA world rankings, boasting a squad valued at €34 million. The most expensive player and the leader of the "Brave Falcons" is Nikola Krstović from Atalanta, valued at €15 million. He has already made 27 appearances for the national team, scoring 6 goals.

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

The upcoming match will be officiated by experienced German referee Felix Zwayer. On average, he hands out 5.1 yellow cards per game. In 3 of his last 4 matches, he's shown at least 6 yellow cards. Montenegro frequently resorts to rough fouls, resulting in about 3.2 yellow cards per game. In comparison, the Croatian team averages just 2.1. Looking at the average number of fouls committed: it's 13.1 versus 10.4 in favor of the "Brave Falcons." A reasonable bet for this match would be on total yellow cards over 4.5.

⚽ Goal Prediction

In 5 of Croatia's last 7 matches, no more than 2 goals were scored. This can be attributed to their highly cautious style of play. Zlatko Dalic favors a defensive approach, focusing on securing the necessary results. Meanwhile, Montenegro is not known for high scoring, averaging 0.9 goals per match. A solid betting option would be total goals under 3.5.

🚩 Corner Prediction

Interestingly, matches involving both teams consistently see an average of 11.2 corners per game. Moreover, in 6 of the last 7 matches involving the "Checkerboards," there have been at least 11 corner kicks. Our editorial team anticipates an energetic game with plenty of wing attacks, making total corners over 9.5 a logical choice.

Croatia find themselves in a favorable position—comfortable in the standings, facing an opponent well-suited to their pragmatic style, and with the advantage of playing at home. Montenegro, lacking a clear attacking structure, are unlikely to secure a positive result against the highly organized Croatians. Our editorial team predicts a final score of 2-0, with the key bet being Croatia to win with a handicap of (-1.5).