If they finish within the top 2, then they can qualify for the main tournament. Only other team (apart from Turkey) who can spoil Croatia's chances is Wales. They are one of the most under-rated teams within UEFA and on their day they can make life difficult even for stronger sides such as England and France. But I don't know how they are going to perform this time, especially after the retirement of Gareth Bale. The other teams in that group (Armenia and Latvia) are there just to make up the numbers. During recent times, their quality has gone down and I don't think that they stand any chance against teams like Croatia, Turkey and Wales.
I know than first two spots in the group lead to the final tournament. But my opinion is that it's not the same to finish first or second. Finishing at the first place boosts team's morale and their synergy with the fans. I remember the time when Croatian fans were not so interested in the national team. Then Dalic was appointed as the manager and they started winning strong teams again. Now the stadiums are again full when the national team is playing.
At least on paper, Croatia is much stronger than Turkey and Wales. The other two (Latvia and Armenia) are there just to make up the numbers. And then chances of any upsets are low, because each team will face others two times in the group phase. Even if one of the underdogs win one match by luck, the higher ranked team has another chance to get back at them. In two weeks, Croatia will be playing their first match, against Wales (they will be having the home advantage, since the match is scheduled to be held at the Stadion Poljud in Split). And on 28th they have a tough match, against Turkey.
In that you are very right , it is not to be believed that a player like Modric ,who is 37 years old and still maintains a very high Level of fútbol , is in the Best club in Europe , is about to Win another UCL , his the Team is struggling to see if they can also win a league that has been very Fought over and they have been a little Careless , perhaps the most important matches have drawn , but MODRIC is a Benchmark for any team that can be a player who sets up from the midle Field to the same strikers and why not? He himself can go up as a Striker , everything is in the creation , for me Croatia is a tough Rival.
Mbappe also recorded a brace in the match against the Netherlands, what an extraordinary result for France to be able to beat the Netherlands with a landslide score. The results of the other matches were no less good with the many goals scored, but it's a shame that Poland and Sweden couldn't provide a balanced fight against their opponents and they had to be satisfied with the defeat.
Rather than anything extra-ordinary from France, what I can say is that the quality of the Dutch team has gone down over the last few years. They are a shadow of their former self, when legends such as Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie were playing for them. And a lot of times, they try to intimidate the opposing team with dangerous tackles and fouls. But against experienced opposition such as France, it never works. And we saw this during the world cup in Qatar. Netherlands conceded a draw against Ecuador in the group stage, and then got defeated in the quarter-finals.
The truth is that it Seems very strange to me that Holland has always had that attitude, at the World Cup it seemed to me that they were Overwhelming, I didn't think they would let France give in so much, I know that France has one of the best teams in the world, and that Mbappé is one of the indisputable references and that he was obviously going to Show off, for me France will be in it, also one of the Teams that many people fell for was Portugal, since it is one of the teams that Everyone does not expect much from what was going to be CR7 and he did it very well.