Young Vatreni beat Turkey and take the top spot

The opening minutes were marked by aggressive, high pressing from the Young Vatreni, who tried to impose their tempo from the very start.

In the 14th minute, Jagušić threatened with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but the Turkish defense reacted in time and blocked the attempt. The ball went out for a corner - already Croatia’s sixth - but without a clear chance from the cross.

Ten minutes later, in the 24th minute, Jagušić had another opportunity, this time from a free kick. His shot was stopped by the wall, and the rebound effort was also blocked, resulting in Croatia’s eighth corner.

After half an hour of play, the statistics clearly favored Croatia - shots were 10:0, though only two were on target.

In the 32nd minute, Croatia briefly found the net. After a corner, Topić scored, but the celebration was short-lived as referee Dudić disallowed the goal due to a prior foul. In that situation, Mlačić had been in front of the goalkeeper and set up the Dinamo forward, but the score remained unchanged.

In the 35th minute, Turkey was reduced to ten men after Tıknaz received a second yellow card and was sent off.

However, football took a back seat at that moment. A serious situation occurred on the Turkish bench when head coach Egemen Korkmaz collapsed, prompting immediate medical intervention. The referee stopped the match and sent both teams to the dressing rooms while the situation was resolved. The match resumed after more than an hour and a half, following a decision by UEFA and the match delegate.

In the 45+5th minute, Fabijan Krivak reacted brilliantly in front of goal after an excellent assist from Adrian Segečić to give Croatia a 1–0 lead.

In the 53rd minute, Croatia made it 2–0. Jagušić received the ball in a good position and struck fantastically from about 20 meters, finding the corner with no chance for Yılmaz.

Croatia then comfortably saw out the match, with another great chance from Barišić, before Mlačić sealed the final 3–0 score from close range in stoppage time.

Turkey finished the match with two more players sent off - Kılıçsoy and Çanak.

The Young Vatreni now lead the group with 13 points, two more (and a game in hand) than second-placed Turkey. They will continue the qualifiers in September with a home match against Hungary.

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