Here is a look at how some of the big French newspapers rated Les Bleus’ players following their 2-0 defeat against Croatia in the first leg of their Nations League QF on Thursday night. France lost 2-0 to Croatia in Split, with Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic scoring for the hosts.
L’Equipe player ratings Croatia vs France 2-0 2025 Nations League
French sports paper L’Equipe wasn’t pleased with Les Bleus’ performance in Split, giving them a team rating of just 4.1/10.
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate got the worst player rating in their books, with a 2/10 for the CB. His defensive partner, Arsenal’s William Saliba, only fared marginally better with a 3/10 rating. Konate was replaced at half time by Bayern’s Dayot Upamecano.
On the Croatian side, Man City defender Josko Gvardiol got a 7/10, which was the highest player rating on either side (shared with some other Croatian players). His MCFC team mate Mateo Kovacic however only got a 5/10 from L’Equipe.
Ouest France player ratings Croatia-France 2-0
Not much better for Konate and Saliba in Ouest France’s player ratings, with both players getting a 3/10 rating (see below)
Diario AS player ratings Croatia 2 France 0 UNL March 2025
Spanish paper AS thought both Konate and Saliba weren’t worthy of a rating, while Gvardiol was the only Croatian player to get 3 stars.
The return leg is in Paris three days later, with the winner of this tie set to square off against the winner of the Netherlands/Spain QF in the semifinals.