Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric handed Scotland their worst losing streak in five years, securing a 2-1 victory in the Nations League on Saturday.
Steve Clarke’s side took a surprising lead with Ryan Christie’s first-half goal at Stadion Maksimir. However, Croatia quickly responded with an Igor Matanovic equalizer before halftime, and Kramaric scored the winning goal midway through the second half.
This loss marked Scotland’s fourth consecutive defeat, their longest such streak since 2019. They arrived in Zagreb winless in their last eight competitive matches, a historic low that has now stretched to nine games. In their last 15 matches, Scotland has managed just one win, a 2-0 triumph over Gibraltar in June.
After crashing out of Euro 2024 at the group stage, Scotland now sit at the bottom of Nations League Group A1, following losses to Poland, Portugal, and Croatia.
While Clarke’s team has been hit hard by injuries, with key players like James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, Jack Hendry, Tommy Conway, Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, and Lewis Ferguson all sidelined, the pressure continues to mount. Another defeat, with Portugal visiting Hampden Park on Tuesday, would further intensify scrutiny on Clarke’s position.
Scotland showed early promise, with Lyndon Dykes attempting an ambitious shot from the halfway line and Christie coming close after Andrew Robertson’s cross was poorly cleared. Billy Gilmour also tested Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic with a long-range effort.
Craig Gordon, Scotland’s 41-year-old stand-in goalkeeper, made several crucial saves, including one to deny Kramaric, with Borna Sosa narrowly missing the rebound. Ben Doak, at just 18 years old, became the youngest Scot to start a competitive match since 1965, and he marked the occasion with the cross that led to Christie’s 32nd-minute opener.
However, Croatia quickly responded, with Matanovic converting Ivan Perisic’s cutback just four minutes later. Matanovic nearly scored again after halftime, but Gordon was able to block his effort. Gordon also made an impressive save from Luka Modric’s curling shot after the Real Madrid midfielder skillfully nutmegged Scott McTominay.
Croatia dominated the second half, and Kramaric completed the comeback in the 70th minute. Sosa’s shot from a Perisic cross was parried by Gordon, but Kramaric was in the perfect position to head in the rebound.
In a tense finale, Scotland thought they had snatched a stoppage-time equalizer through Che Adams, but VAR ruled his goal offside, sealing Croatia’s victory.