Croatia v Greece World Cup Playoff a Sell Out

Maksimir stadium (HNS)

Only a handful of tickets remain for Croatia’s World Cup playoff first-leg match against Greece in Zagreb tonight at Maksimir stadium.

Around 30,000 of the 32,400 available tickets had been sold by early afternoon on Thursday, with the remaining expected to be sold before kick-off.

With the south stand closed due to the away fans being banned for both legs, the record attendance will not be under threat, but tonight’s match is expected to draw in the third biggest crowd in history at the stadium.

(photo credit: HNS)

That record for the stadium stands at 36,000 when Croatia played Slovenia in a Euro playoff match in 2003 (video below).

The second largest attendance at Maksimir stadium was set in 2013 when Croatia beat Serbia 2-0 in the 2014 World Cup qualifier. That evening 35,722 fans turned out, Index writes.

Croatia will be without Milan Badelj tonight, but captain Luka Modric is still confident.

“We are in for a tough fight. Croatia has to stay patient, just as we did in Ukraine. We’ll create some chances, and then we have to focus to make the most of them. The ideal outcome would be a victory without conceding since the encounters with Greece usually do not provide many goals. I believe in a positive outcome, but there is still the return leg to be played”, he said.

(HNS)

The pressure will not distract us, the team spirit is high, and I believe in a quality performance. Our supporters will give us extra motivation and we can’t wait for the kick-off”, concluded Modrić.

Kick-off is at 20:45 local time tonight.