Croatia v Wales - live updates
Wales begin their 2024 European Championship qualifying campaign against Croatia tonight.
It represents a new era for Rob Page's side who are without retired stars Gareth Bale, Joe Allen, Chris Gunter and Jonny Williams while Ben Davies, Wayne Hennessey and Brennan Johnson are all absent through injury.
As for the hosts, they will be backed by a sell-out crowd in Split and go into the campaign as firm favourites to finish at the summit of Group D.
As ever, you can follow all of the latest build-up, team news and match updates from the game with us live below.
Wales: Ward; Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Williams; Ampadu, Morrell; Wilson, Ramsey (C), D James; Moore.
Subs: King, A Davies, Fox, Cabango, Lockyer, Thomas, Burns, J James, Broadhead, Cooper, L Harris, Bradshaw.
Kick-off is at 7:45pm.
Wales team news18:17
19:25Ian Mitchelmore
Dejan Lovren gets a magnificent reception before kick-off having recently retired from international duty.
19:17Ian Mitchelmore
19:14Ian Mitchelmore
Both sets of players are on the pitch for their pre-match warm-ups here in Split.
Just over half an hour to go until kick-off.
19:00Ian Mitchelmore
Every seat in the house is already full and we still have 45 minutes to go until kick-off.
Each home fan has been given a free scarf, and the atmosphere in here is already phenomenal.
18:57Ian Mitchelmore
"They're a force to be reckoned with, their home record is very good," said Page. "In recent months they finished third at the World Cup. They've arguably got the best midfield three in world football.
"We're going to have our work cut out, but, it's part of the development of our players. We're in a transition. There won't be wholesale changes to the starting 11, we haven't got an abundance of players that we can pick from, but the starting 11 will be able to compete."
Rob Page
18:45Ian Mitchelmore
Uncapped players Luke Harris, Jordan James, Ollie Cooper, Tom King, Nathan Broadhead and Morgan Fox are all on the bench for Wales tonight.
It seems likely that we'll see a debutant in Split.
18:35Ian Mitchelmore
Rob Page was less than impressed with Nottingham Forest for their handling of Brennan Johnson prior to the international break.
Here's what the Wales boss had to say about that situation in his pre-game press conference.
18:30Ian Mitchelmore
Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric (C), Brozovic, Kovacic; Kramaric, Livaja, Perisic.
Subs: Grbic, Labrovic, Stanisic, Barisic, Erlic, Majer, Vlasic, Pasalic, Ivanusec, Musa, Orsic, Vida.
18:29Ian Mitchelmore
It looks like Wales will operate with a back four tonight. Rodon and Mepham in the middle of Roberts and Williams.
Ampadu and Morrell to protect the defence while Wilson, Ramsey and James will support lone striker Moore.
18:17KEY EVENT
Wales: Ward; Ampadu, Mepham, Rodon; Roberts, Wilson, Ramsey (C), Morrell, Williams; James, Moore
18:03Ian Mitchelmore
We'll get tonight's team news in around 15 minutes.
Stay tuned!
18:02Ian Mitchelmore
17:00Ian Mitchelmore
Match odds
Croatia win - 11/20
Draw - 29/10
Wales win - 21/4
Group D qualifying odds (top 2 finish)
Croatia - 2/9
Turkey - 2/5
Wales - 10/11
Armenia - 12/1
Latvia - 150/1
(Odds courtesy of SkyBet, correct at time of publishing. Please gamble responsibly.)
Ian Mitchelmore
Good afternoon, Red Wall!
It's been a glorious day in Split. Here's hoping Rob Page's men can cause a major upset and claim an unexpected positive result tonight.
Stay tuned for updates.
