Poland rallies to force a 3-3 draw with Croatia.

Luka Modrić’s international break is over. 

He will now return to Madrid. 🔙🏠

Poland overcame a two-goal deficit to salvage a 3-3 draw with Croatia in a Nations League match on Tuesday.

After falling behind early, Croatia managed to seize control of the match with three goals in the opening seven minutes of play, but they were able to rally and had goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic sent off in the closing moments.

After the draw, Croatia moved up to second place in Group A1 with seven points from four games, three places clear of Poland in third. Portugal leads the group with ten points, while Scotland only has one.

Poland, on a two-game losing skid and seeking for Croatia’s 1-0 home win in their Nations League match in early September, started 20-year-old Kacper Urbanski in place of all-time leading scorer Robert Lewandowski.

Captain Piotr Zielinski scored Poland’s first goal in the fifth minute from a tight angle as the team came out aggressively.

However, the hosts saw a stunning collapse as Croatia scored three goals in rapid succession. In the 19th minute, Borna Sosa leveled the score with a shot into the far corner after a rebound in the Polish box.

With a cool finish, Petar Sucic gave Croatia the lead. In the 26th minute, Martin Baturina skillfully put the ball between Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka’s legs to make it 3-1.

After an exciting, action-packed first half, Poland was reeling, but Nicola Zalewski’s incredible goal right before halftime offered them a ray of hope.

Jakub Kaminski sent a hard shot that appeared to be headed for the Croatian net in the last seconds before halftime, but goalie Livakovic made an incredible save to keep the visitors ahead.

This lead held until just after the hour, when Sebastian Szymanski equalized in the 68th minute with a low shot into the left corner, thanks to a pass from Lewandowski.

However, the did not end there. In the 76th minute, Croatia’s Livakovic was sent off for fouling Lewandowski, but the home team was unable to take advantage of the situation.

In their final two group-stage matches, Croatia visits the Scots and hosts Portugal, while Poland travels to Portugal on November 15 and then hosts Scotland three days later.