Croatia beat Malta 3-1 on Friday to stay within a point of Group F leader Greece in European Championship qualifying.
Ognjen Vukojevic put Croatia ahead 11 minutes in at the Ta' Qali National Stadium and Milan Badelj made it 2-0 in the 32nd. Malta captain Michael Mifsud pulled one back for the Mediterranean island nation in the 38th but Dejan Lovren restored Croatia's two-goal lead in the 68th.
Greece beat Israel 1-0 earlier Friday and leads the group with 17 points. Croatia is next with 16, Israel has 13, Georgia nine, Latvia seven and Malta zero.
Croatia hosts Israel on Tuesday, while Greece visits Latvia and Malta is at home to Georgia.
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Lineups:
Malta: Andrew Hogg, Emmanuel Muscat, Gareth Sciberras, Andre Agius, Ryan Fenech (Carlo Mamo, 88), Clayton Failla, Roderick Briffa (Jamie Pace, 74), Michael Mifsud (Ivan Woods, 82), Andrew Cohen, John Hutchinson, Andre Schembri.
Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa, Ivan Strinic, Dejan Lovren, Vedran Corluka, Milan Badelj (Eduardo, 82), Ognjen Vukojevic, Darijo Srna, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Klasnic (Nikola Kalinic, 46), Ivan Perisic (Tomislav Dujmovic, 67), Sime Vrsaljko.
