Montenegro vs Croatia Prediction 18 November 2025

🔊 What kind of match can we expect when teams have no tournament motivation? In the final round of the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, Montenegro and Croatia will face off. Montenegro have already missed their chance to head to North America next summer, while Croatia have secured their direct ticket to the World Cup. The match will take place at the Pod Goricom Stadium in Podgorica, yet bookmakers still see Croatia as the clear favorites.

Head-to-Head

📊 The teams rarely face each other. In fact, their previous head-to-head was the first in their history. There was no drama as the Croatians dominated their undermanned opponents with a 4-0 victory.

Montenegro Team Overview

Montenegro were given little chance of successfully navigating qualification, and they haven't managed to prove the skeptics wrong. Even with a win in the upcoming match, Mirko Vučinić's squad won't climb from the second-to-last spot due to their goal difference of -8. The Faroe Islands, who have completed all their matches, boast a much better goal difference (+2), largely thanks to Montenegro's heavy away defeat to the "Fishermen" (0-4). This is how Vučinić began his journey at the helm of the national team. His side won their next two matches, but their opponents were among Europe's weakest teams, and Montenegro still conceded goals. We're talking about Liechtenstein (2-1) and Gibraltar (2-1).

Croatia Team Overview

The Croatians were the favorites of the group, though experts considered that the Czech Republic might challenge them for the top spot. However, by the end of the second round, it became clear that this was highly unlikely, as Zlatko Dalic's squad demolished the Czechs 5-1. They just needed to avoid dropping points against weaker opponents, which the "Checkered Ones" managed successfully, approaching the final qualifying match with only one point dropped—away against the same Czechs (0-0). Notably, the veterans continue to deliver results. The top scorers for the national team in this qualification campaign are Andrej Kramaric (6 goals and 1 assist) and Ivan Perisic (3 goals and 4 assists).

Latest news

Montenegro

❌ Stefan Savic (Trabzonspor) and Andrija Vukcevic (Preston) were not called up for the current training camp due to injuries. These are significant losses for the Montenegro national team.

Croatia

✅ The Croatian national team approaches the upcoming match without any significant absences. However, Zlatko Dalic is likely to rest his veteran leaders to ensure they return to their clubs refreshed and injury-free.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

⚽️ Goal Prediction

Let's focus on the first half here. Montenegro have conceded in the first half in their last five matches, while Croatia have found the net before the break in six of their previous seven World Cup qualifiers. We won't ignore this trend and predict that Croatia will score in the first half.

🚩 Corner Prediction

While Montenegro struggle with goals, their corner stats are more promising. They have delivered more than 2.5 corners in 10 out of their last 11 home games. With Croatia not fielding their strongest lineup, the hosts should push forward and meet their usual corner count.

The Croatians struggle to score on the road, managing eight away goals in the current qualifiers, with seven of those coming in a rout against Gibraltar. Montenegro, on the other hand, have only netted four times since the start of the qualifiers. With neither team having much at stake in terms of tournament motivation, we believe a bet on under 3.5 goals is reasonable. At home, the "Checkered Ones" scored four, largely aided by a sending-off in their favor. This time, emotions are unlikely to run high, so we expect both teams to finish with full squads on the pitch. As for the outcome, we lean towards a narrow victory for the visitors, predicting a 1-0 scoreline.