These sides have faced off just once before and that came a decade ago

Croatia have lit up the last two World Cups and kick off their bid to reach another finals with a trip to Portugal to face Group L minnows Gibraltar.

Under shrewd boss Zlatko Dalic, the Croats reach the 2018 World Cup Final then followed it by reaching the semi-finals four years later in Qatar.

But they are now a team in transition, with stalwarts such as Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric in their silver years and a younger generation yet to hit the same heights.

Croatia bowed out after the group stage at Euro 2024 last summer then won just twice in their Nations League group before bowing out to France on penalties in the quarter-final of that tournament.

Those games with French ensured the Croats would be playing catch-up in World Cup qualifying, with all the other teams in Group L playing their first two qualifiers at the same time.

The Czech Republic have started with maximum points so Croatia will be looking to kick-off with a bang against Gibraltar before hosting the Czechs in a crunch game just three days later.

Head to head: Back for seconds

These sides have faced off just once before and that came a decade ago, with Croatia easing to a 4-0 win in a friendly one home soil. Kramaric scored in that game and could now face the same opposition 10 years later.

Probable line-ups

Dalic might experiment a little for this one to keep his key players fresh for that big game with the Czechs. Gibraltar should be along similar lines to their last qualifier, a 4-0 loss to the Czech Republic.

Gibraltar: Banda, Ronan, Lopes, Britto, Annesley, Scanlon, Bent, Richards, De Barr, El Hmidi, Jessop.

Croatia: Livakovic, Juranovic, Vuskovic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Baturina, L Sucic, Moro, P Sucic, Pasalic, Ivanovic.