The Croatian footballers have qualified for the World Cup final in Russia after defeating England 2-1 in the semi-final match in Moscow on Wednesday, with the winning goal scored by Mario Mandžukić in the 109th minute.
The first dangerous situation in the match, in the 5th minute, resulted in a goal for the English. Luka Modrić fouled Dele Alli near the 16-yard box, and Kieran Trippier scored from a free kick from 20 meters.
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In the second half, Croatia played better and chances began to pile up. First, in the 65th minute, Perišić shot from the edge of the 16-yard box, but Walker managed to block the ball on its way to the net.
Croatia equalized in the 68th minute. Vrsaljko crossed into the six-yard box, and Perišić scored from a difficult position to make it 1-1. In the 72nd minute, Perišić created space after dribbling in the 16-yard box and shot, but the ball hit the crossbar. A new chance for Croatia came in the 83rd minute. Brozović set up Mandžukić excellently, who volleyed from 12 meters at an angle, but straight at goalkeeper Pickford.
Croatia deservedly defeated the English. I must congratulate our boys. They are not normal. How they ran, how they fought, this is historic. Let everyone in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina rejoice. We just keep pushing forward. We are not stopping yet. Now we will be world champions, God willing, said Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić briefly.
The score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes, leading to extra time, where the first opportunity came for the English in the 99th minute. Trippier took a corner, and Stones’ header was stopped by Vrsaljko, who cleared the ball off the goal line.
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At the end of the first extra time (105+2), Perišić delivered a low ball into the six-yard box, and Mandžukić’s shot was saved by Pickford. In the 108th minute, another chance for the “Blazers”. Rakitić cleverly took a corner for Brozović, who shot on the run, but missed the goal. And then in the 109th minute, after a poor reaction from the English defense, Perišić headed the ball to Mandžukić, who scored with his left foot for the victory 2-1.
Thus, Croatia will play against France in the final on July 15 in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, which defeated Belgium 1-0 in the semi-finals. Belgium and England will play for third place on July 14 in Saint Petersburg.
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“We were phenomenal, we believed until the end that we could come back. We created chances and knew it had to yield results. We showed character, as we came back from behind in the previous two matches,” said Modrić for HTV, adding: “We were modest in our statements, but our belief that we could achieve a great result has been enormous from the start, and we do not want to stop here.”
“We are not aware of what we have done, this is a miracle. No, it is not a miracle, only great teams can do this. After the English took the lead, we managed to come back and win. The biggest pressure was in the round of 16, and now we enjoy playing, we play like lions, and it will be the same in the final,” said Mandžukić.
“Twenty years ago, I watched matches in a Croatian jersey in Omiš and dreamed of playing for the national team and scoring a goal that takes us to the final,” said Perišić, who was named man of the match. “Once again, we started the match poorly, but we showed character again, which we did not have before,” he added.
Perišić has scored two goals in this tournament, and two more in Brazil four years ago, making him the best Croatian scorer in World Cups after Davor Šuker, who scored six goals, all six in France.
