Croatia appear to enjoy playing tournament football on French soil. They won five of seven games at the 1998 World Cup - en route to finishing third - and got their Euro 2016 campaign off to a flyer after seeing off Turkey, courtesy of some Luka Modric magic.
Indeed it's a tale of two playmakers in Saint-Etienne. Whereas Modric is in his prime, his Czech rival Tomas Rosicky is nearing the end of his.
The tournament is yet to see the best of the Czechs. They need to rediscover their impressive qualifying form if they are to kick-start their campaign, and Rosicky will be key to that.
TEAM NEWS
The Czech Republic are likely to make changes to the side beaten by Spain on Monday.
Borek Dockal will be assessed following a recent ankle injury, while centre-back Marek Suchy may feature after missing their opener due to suspension.
Croatia defender Vedran Corluka is available despite suffering a head injury against Turkey.
Darijo Srna is expected to play despite briefly returning home this week to attend his father's funeral.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- This will be the first competitive meeting between the countries.
- The Czech Republic have never beaten Croatia in two previous meetings (D1, L1).
- Nikola Kalinic's brace helped Croatia secure a 4-2 win over Czech Republic when these teams last met in 2011.
Czech Republic
- The Czech Republic have lost six of their last nine games at the Euros, winning the other three.
- They have not been involved in a draw at a major tournament for 19 games (W9, L10).
- Their last draw was 0-0 against France in the semi-finals of Euro 1996. They won 6-5 on penalties that day.
- The Czechs have never failed to score in two consecutive games at the European Championship.
- Striker Tomas Necid has scored more goals as a substitute (seven) than as a starter (four) for his country.
- Tomas Rosicky has only scored two goals at a major tournament - both coming in the Czechs' 3-0 win against the USA in the World Cup in 2006.
Croatia
- Croatia have won five of their last eight group games in the European Championship (D2, L1).
- They have only failed to score once in their last 10 games at the European Championship - against Spain in 2012 (who they play in their final group match).
- They have never conceded more than once in their last eight games in the competition.
- Croatia recorded 19 shots against Turkey, equalling their record for most attempts in a 90-minute game at the European Championship.
Possible line-ups
Czech Republic: Čech; Kadeřábek, Sivok, Hubník, Gebre Selassie; Darida, Plašil; Dočkal, Rosický, Krejčí; Necid.
Croatia: Subašić; Srna, Ćorluka, Vida, Strinić; Badelj, Modrić; Brozović, Rakitić, Perišić; Mandžukić.
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