Venue Change for Croatia vs. Finland World Cup Qualifier

(Photo: NK Rijeka)

Croatia faces Finland in their penultimate FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier on 6 October 2017.

The match was scheduled to be played at Gradski Vrt stadium in Osijek in eastern Croatia, but today the Croatian Football Federation announced a venue change after a board meeting in Zagreb.

Croatia will play Finland now in Rijeka (Photo: NK Rijeka)

The match has been moved to Rijeka and will be played at Rujevica, the home ground of Croatian champions NK Rijeka.

Heavy rainfall over the past two weeks has affected the ground in Osijek and officials did not want to take any risks with the match being played on a sub-standard pitch.

Zbog lošeg stanja travnjaka u Osijeku, a kako bi reprezentacija imala najbolje uvjete za igru, Hrvatska će protiv Finske igrati u Rijeci. pic.twitter.com/jwrLA8NOdi

— HNS | CFF (@HNS_CFF) September 22, 2017

Gradski Vrt (Photo: NK Osijek)

Earlier this month Croatia’s qualifier against Kosovo in Zagreb was called off after 27 minutes when rain made the pitch unplayable. Croatia won the match when it resumed the following day.

Croatia v Kosovo called off (Photo: HNS)

Rujevica is renowned for having the best surface in the country thanks to its hybrid natural and artificial surface. The Croatian Football Federation have informed FIFA, UEFA and the Finland Football Association of their decision and now are just waiting for official confirmation.

The only time Croatia has played there was in a EURO 2016 warm-up match when they beat San Marino 10-0.