Croatia finished the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record for the first time in World Cup history after defeating Iceland 2-1 through an Ivan Perišić injury time winner Tuesday night.
After already defeating Nigeria 2-0 and thrashing Argentina 3-0, the Vatreni did not need a result against Iceland to progress to the next round- but they got one anyways.
Manager Zlatko Dalić elected to rest regular starters and players currently on a yellow, which meant Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić and Milan Badelj would lead a ‘reserve’ team playing in their first World Cup match.
Iceland needed a big victory (to make up goal differential) in order to finish second in the group with Croatia only motivated to keep the winning streak alive and keep players fresh. Surprisingly, Iceland came out flat in the first half with little chance on goal as the match went into halftime scoreless.
Fiorentina’s Milan Badelj broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when he hit a beautiful, rising half volley back into the ground to beat Thor Halldorsson for the game’s first goal. Croatia controlled tempo for most of the game and possession 59% of the time. Although Iceland got close on a few occasions, Croatia backup keeper, Lovre Kalinić, who will be the future goalie when Danijel Subašić retires, thwarted multiple attacks making five total saves on the day.
Iceland finally got the break they were looking for in the 76th minute when substitute Dejan Lovren handled the ball in the box. Gylfi Sigurdsson would send the ball top shelf from the penalty spot to tie the game up; which was the only goal Croatia has conceded in the World Cup thus far. With the game winding down and Iceland already knowing resistance was futile, Ivan Perišić sent a final “coup de gras” in injury time to send the vikings home. With his patented run down the left side, Perišić beat the keeper high with his left foot to give Croatia a 2-1 victory going into the Denmark match on Sunday.
Man of the Match: Lovre Kalinić; even though it was given to Milan Badelj by FIFA.
Croatia-Iceland Match Highlights
I thought kramaric was pretty good
Through 3 games and not having seen many of his performances for Hoffenheim, I’ve realized I’ve underestimated Kramaric’s dribbling and technical abilities.
It’s only a matter of time until he can break through his slump and be our guy. Croatia hasn’t had a striker that can create his own shot since Eduardo.
Forewarning: Expect big things from him once he can break the duck and find his scoring form.
Hard for me to criticize anything about this virtually meaningless game. We were playing at 80%, with our B team, and we still beat Iceland (who are better than many other teams in this tournament.)
Pjaca looking like his chances at greatness are done due to injury not healing properly. Hope his injury yesterday is not that bad.
Ps-take note of those regulars not posting or celebrating our victories on this site. We knew they were serb ttolls, snd now it is proven.
It has been 20 years since we got out of round 2. Let us hope we can beat the Danes!
Where’s Turkey these days? Gone into hiding?
I’m kinda fearful too, not cos i dont have faith or anything, i do, but just cos this is too good a run to continue lol. Like, i keep expecting when am i gonna wake up from this pleasant dream, if u kwim
i dont want to set my expectations too high yet but it would be a damn shame if we didnt at least get past DAN. On form, of course we’re favourites but every match is different tbh.
The things that worry me is we haven’t really had any goals from strikers (unless u count Rebic) so that’s still an issue. Not sure if our midfield can keep scoring all our goals, it might be fine, hopefully. Good thing is there’s still room for improvement in the finishing department.
Is anybody else sick of Iceland? My left pinky toe has more technical skill than their 23, but they are such an awkward and annoying opponent
Yep, ive also had enough of every neutral and commentator and broadcoaster crowing on about how great they are and that they’re the best thinig since sliced bread.
Like, okay, guys, we get it. It was a fun story in 2016 but give it a rest. Do we now have to hear about how awesome Iceland is for a small country every year from here to eternity? Fucking give it a rest, sheesh.
Read the comments on the game page at The Guardian and barely one congratulates Croatia. 99.9% are going OMG ICELAND ARE SO BRAVE AND GREAT I LOVE THEM!
Fuck out of here, fucking cunts
@slavonac
I am not surprised at all with this from them. I think they are upset Kalinic was sent home. 🙂
yebise stipe
stipe don’t have a negative Serb attitude..ma revise.. our cro vatreni are going far..dont be negative..yebemti maiku.
HRVATSKA HRVATSKA HRVATSKA!!!
Denmark has a strong defence they dont let many goals in.
…8 years at Maksimir
@Stipe
Streaks are not a problem fir us. Didn’t we go 8 years without losing a competitive match?
@Slovanac
You gotta be kidding. Croatia wins three World Cup matches in group stage and your mind is thinking “How can I bash Hajduk?”
Can’t we stay united for this tournament?
Lmao we are gonna lose to Denmark. We can’t win 4 games in a row from now on. It sucks this high is gonna leave
Denmarks defensive backs are shit, literally both are worse than pivaric. Rebic and Perisic need to have a good game
Badelj our best forward today.
Time to play PES 2012 FIFA 05 FIFA 06 Group Stage games are less pressure than knockout we usually go out Euro 2008 and Euro 2016 hopefully not for Modrics last World Cup.
Bobby V, thanks bro! I have been waiting for this day for decades…everyone is waiting for us to slip up. I feel something great about to happen.
Dalić is on a ROLL.
He is making intelligent moves every match.
First time 9 pts in group play!
Dalić knew it was important to keep momentum.
Perišić with trademark left foot strike.
@ Kramaric Klub
Maybe we should just pray Perišić gets into top gear as his dynamic self can compete with anyone.
Kramaric had a chance to put a through ball to the right flank but chose to take a Hail Mary shot wide left.
Badelj was impressive today and Rakitic was a revelation in the 10 hole. Kovačić ran his heart out and had moments.
I know Kramaric has some goals in him but MANdzukic is force of nature.
Spanish ref allowed Iceland to run over Pjaca all game. He looked good but ref was giving him the rookie treatment.
Full faith in Dalić to devise the winning game plan for Denmark.
Erickson is world class and not to be under estimated.
Like to see our dynamic duo pushed even farther up the pitch.
The game against Denmark will be an extremely physical game. We need to be our best and look back at the Mexico Portugal game and see what want wrong and make sure not to repeat those mistakes. I believe coaching played a critical role in the lose of those 2 games. The Iceland game today was a wake up call. Although we won the game there were cracks in our defenses and missed opportunities. Sunday’s game its all on the line and our guys need to play for there dress and run down balls and make sure those Danes fight for every inch of territory on that field. My most serious concern is that game goes to a penalty shoot out and I am wondering if our boys will have the nerve to see it through. That’s always a crap shoot but something we must be prepared for. 90 per cent of the shootout is mental the rest is cake. We must believe they we can win and not give up. Lets go Vatreni !!!!
Hang in there Lika Joey! I’m with you brother!
Guys I hope we have some luck….Portugal…turkey games at euro scare me.
Croatia -250 to advance. Denmark +200. Bookmakers have us as solid favorites. Can’t wait until Sunday!
Awesome Win! They are playing great!!! Ready for Sunday vs Denmark
badelj*
I wrote a pretty long comment I hope it shows up
oh and my cousin barely goal and assist
yeah rog aint doing that
HRVATSKA HRVATSKA HRVATSKA
my takeaways
kova floats; still didn’t see much tho.
pivaric is VERY bad
kramaric is genuinely selfish, can be a double edged sword, believe today he was a bit extra because it was the b team he was a bit more interested in his stats but he can be a 9 who plays with it at his feet
all in all extremely proud we came for 9 points took 9 points
Not the greatest showing today, but acceptable. Back a few months ago if someone told me we’d be 3-0 with 7 goals for and 1 against, I would’ve probably asked if you were smoking crack. Nice to see Perisic can still finish on occasion.
Is anybody else sick of Iceland? My left pinky toe has more technical skill than their 23, but they are such an awkward and annoying opponent. They are the turd that don’t wanna flush. Hopefully won’t be seeing them for a while.
kova has some great juke moves…
Gotta warm up for Sundays game…
Time to crank on the Fifa 18 PS4 and kick some Denmark but!!!
I thought Pjaca had some good moments, but just ok today. Anyone know if he was really injured? Hoping it’s not serious.
Slavonac, fuck them then!
Early betting line:
Croatia -109
Denmark +397
Draw +224
O/U: 2 over 112
The thing is Lovren, didn’t make a mistake! He intentionally left his arm out there to block the ball.
So thankfully it wasn’t a howler or blunder. This can be corrected. He just can’t be blocking balls. Other than that he was fine. Better to get him out on the pitch in a not-so-critical game to learn his lesson.
Good to see Badelj the Razbijac back on the pitch! And what a great goal it was.
Kovacic was silky smooth with the ball. Full of energy. Popping up all over the pitch to recieve the ball and pass it.
And has Perisic finally arrived at the Tournement? He was awesome.
Pivariric was a pleasant surprise, and looked better than in previous outings. He was good going forward.
Caleta-Car great to see him get some minutes. He’s our future, and did a composed job.
First time EVER undefeated in the WC Group stage. Hooray!!!
Dinamo’s Twitter page congratulates the National Team and players, Osijek’s twitter page congratulate’s the National Team and players, Rijeka does the same, Lokomotiva does the same….
Guess what team doesn’t congratulate the National Team or any of their players? Thats right…unless I’m missing something, Hajduk Split has not sent a tweet for the team or any of their players!!!
says a lot about the club!
In hindsight, I don’t think we can second guess the decision to sit players on yellows. Aside from not keeping the 3rd clean sheet, it was a great result.
They are calling many more pens for unintentional handballs in this WC. Not sure that would have been a penalty if VAR was not implemented.
Good for Perisic to get a goal, hopefully that gets him going. Players on yellows kept their heads. I was disappointed in Kramaric, but he could still have a role to play. Rakitic changed the game when he came on. Badelj was great throughout.
Agree on the Lovren comment. We all knew he was due for a boner (no pun intended…), and hopefully that it was it.
Bobby V, I’m almost in tears…. Finally!!!!!!!!!! We just need a bit of luck.
We are definitely capable of taking out both Denmark and Spain (whose back four have been very error prone).
This is ours to lose.
Pjaca – either not 100 percent or not a good showing. Dove and barely got any calls.
Kramaric – skilled yes but no pressure like Mandza and selfish at the wrong times. Allowed the backline to walk out.
Kovacic – highky skilled mali nogomet player. Silk passing. Definitely going to another big club.
VAR – bullshit. Seems subjective. Allows ref to pick and choose which calls to make. Diego Costa elbow smashed Pepe and no call. Today I saw a few as well.
Kalinic (goalie) – good goalie but poor challenging crosses and corners. Check his miss vs Mexico friendly in 2017 in L.A. He’s the tallest in the tourney and we traditionally don’t produce very tall AND nimble goalies. At least Suabsic is quicker getting down and challenging.
Good shit, i love sending Iceland home. Let’s hope Lovren got his bonehead mistake out of the way for the tourney
If you go back to the daw back in December, we were saying ”Even if we do finish second, we will lose to France in the round of 16.
Now, we can possibly have a path to the semi-finals by beating Denmark and Russia, while resting our starters in our final group match.
Totally unreal.
Denmark is a solid side and well organized. I’m not looking past them but it’s hard not to look ahead and dream….
Croatia’s substitutes just did what Argentina could not. Don’t count out the Russians beating Spain, who have given up 5 goals so far.
Even if we got the draw we would have won the group. Now the Danes have three good players Ericksen, The Goalkeepeer and Kjaer.Remember we won the group in Euro 2008 then got knocked out to Turkey. We won the group in Euro 2016 then got knocked out to Portugal. If we dont take our chances vs Denmark we will go out early.
Mali ante ne boji se….spain is past there prime….would rather have them then protugal and ronaldo….ronaldo fucked us last time in euros…
first thing first though Denmark…
@mail anti….don’t fear spain….they are past there prime…I am more scared of ronaldo then spain….he fucked us in the eurocup
All in all mission accomplished. We have a favorable matchup with Denmark…if we win that Spain likely up next…wish Portugal had finished first ahead of Spain.
Is it just me or did Jedvaj look lost out there?
This wasn’t a meaningless game! Revenge for our group.
Perisic, nice on the goal. Is he looking skinny/frail?
Nice watching the boys have fun out their .
=U=
Perisic goooalllllll
argentina with a gol to save there lives
if we had first place locked up and rested players about as close to meaningless as you can get.
No game in a world cup is meaning less
Kovacic balls!
Rakitic game changer.
Corluka > Lovren.
this game is not meaningless….fucking lovren idiot
Lovren being Lovren.
How’s Pjaca doing? I’ll watch the game today after work…I didn’t want to take time off since we were through.
I’ve been saying he’s a good player but often goes missing in games…any comments on how he’s doing?
In a meaningless game I’d say it’s a smart way to play.
Badelj! Well deserved after hitting the crossbar earlier.
@vatrena cast
That’s sports.
You can’t not play cuz u might get hurt.
What kind of mentality is that?
My comment about Kalinic earning valuable experience in moderation..
He could be the keeper in 2022
Subasic is already 33.
Kalinic is 28.
Let’s say we play our full starting line up in a “meaningless game” and let’s say one or two starters gets hurt. Then we are really boned. How many would complain if that happened?
We’re missing Rakitic.
When he slots in we’re a different team right now.
Him and Modric have looked so good recently.
Kovacic and Badelj have shown me nothing.
When you watch a first half like that, it makes you wonder if playing 9 subs is such a good idea.
Try keeping the big picture in mind. Yes, you worry about momentum being affected, but, at this level, it usually isn’t an issue and can quickly be re-established.
Only thing that sucks is if you had tickets for the game because the feell/mood is so much different than for our last one.
Kalinic too.
He’s probably our keeper in 2022.
Subasic is 33, and Kalinic 28.
And Kalinic.
He probably our keeper in 2022.
Subasic is 33, Kalinic 28.
Was thinking the same thing about Caleta-Car.
6 months ago he seemed pretty far from starting a WC match. He must be extatic.
Here’s what I don’t understand. What is everyone fascination with Kramaric? He’s skilled ok. Here’s what he also is. Soft on the ball, extremely slow, and extremely predictable. He doesn’t offer you the pressing that Mandza so he’s nothing more than a sub when the game slows down. Change my mind.
Pretty crappy half for Croatia. Wish the ref wouldn’t make it so obvious that he’s cheering for Iceland. He is awful. I guess he’s not a Messi fan.
Only bright spot so far is the valuable minutes Caleta-Car is getting. He’ll be back there for us for a long time.
Not so good
But caleta-car looks good
Kalinic confirming he is prob the goalie of the now not the future
He is always solid for us
Seems very assured and way more athletic then suba
Jedvaj putting good balls in
Pivaric got dusted so bad
My app crashed damn it! I’m at work! Anyone have any links that will work on cellphones? Molina I hvala!
^ ^
He always seems raw to me.
Can’t teach that level of scoring instinct and shooting ability though.
Been watching Kramaric – his overall form, touches, movement has not been sharp in the Cup and two friendliest beforehand.
knocking the ball around with no intent like it is a friendly, whuch i guess was to be expected.
@zee
atdhe
Anyone have a link to watch on line?
@pog
Definitely agree. Unless you were on a yellow you should be playing.
My guess is they sub off Luka early in the 2nd half and bring on Bradaric. We need to keep players sharp but not at the expense of losing them because of a second yellow.
I don’t like all the changes. Not the whole backline and goalie anyway.
@ Pog-
“Unless you’re on a card let em play.”
…but then he is at risk of getting an inadvertant yellow or red, on top of a potential injury. This move makes no sense, but I am sure he is under strict orders to just get rid of the ball, and nit make any hard tackles, as with Perisic. (fucking nicole kalinic!)
bjezite ljudi………ajmo mamci samo naprid!!!
He’s also the wrong side of 30 and would benefit from a game off or at least a half off.
^^^
Well said Poglavnik!
You don’t want to lose this game tinkering and cone out flat with your A team the next game cuz you’ve lost momentum. It’s the World fuckin Cup! Unless you’re on a card let em play.
You think the Hrvati at the game are like, I hope Luka doesn’t play? He alone is worth the price of admission. It’s the biggest stage and maybe his last one.
2pm ET
What time is game on Sunday?
Denmark will park bus I guess and hope for a counter
I guess by now we have nuff experience with buses
I feel like dalic is quietly and confident a very smart tactician
He tried all his stuff during the friendlies
First place is ours.
I would be shocked if Nigeria beat Argentina, let alone win by three or more goals.
Dalić probably wants to try this Badelj – Kovačić – Modrić trio in the midfield to see how it works.
Bradarić was a complete waste of a roster spot.
Shoulda grabbed another winger to give Perišić a rest.
my two cents:
My guess is that we are trying to preserve our record and keep the morale high. I could be wrong, but since we haven’t been scored on and since we’ve been extremely disciplined, Dalic is going to demand the exact same from this lineup…and for that to happen we will need 100% full concentration.
I wish Luka wasn’t starting today.
Croatia to play Denmark, who interestingly had no interest in going for the win to avoid us.They knew the Peru-Australia score at the end and still sat back.
Your mother’s stupid for having you.
Ok, now I’ll try being nice today.
Ajmo Momci!!
Modric chasing a golden ball is stupid. He’s not going to get it
Modric is still hands down the best player we have. He can take the sting out of any pressure with the way he possess the ball and keeps it moving. Dudes a little tank. I’m not worried about leaving him in.
You think Ronaldo would ever willing sit a match at the WC?! Hell no.
Besides, Modric is working on a Golden Ball. Let him play
@Lika- Pjaca definitely not back at full strength or speed. That said, an 85% Pjaca can still be dangerous, & his shot power is still solid.
Yea would be quite surprised to see modric out there and rakitic with the yellow
Injury risk too great with modric especially with Iceland likely playing desperate and aggressive.
And risk of rakitic picking up yellow too great as well
When the roster was selected, i had warned of too few midfielders. Could use a rog or pasalic today
Unnecessary move.
Modrić should not be playing.
Pjaca, doesn’t seem to have fully bounced back after that knee injury. I hope I’m wrong.
Wow keeping Modric in the game is a bit of a surprise. I thought if anything, keep Subasic in the starting 11.
As long as we avoid defeat we’re good. I don’t want to finish second in our group but we would be hugely unlucky for that to happen. We can pretty much sit back and enjoy this game without any pressure, which is always nice.
Also, there is a slim chance rd of 16 is versus Aussies so im hopping for that; we would be massive favourites!
Big opportunity for Kovacic if he plays in place of Modric. It would be great to see a MOTM type performance from him, he’s certainly capable. Having the luxury to rotate the squad could really help in the knockout phase as the minutes pile up for the players.
^ ^
Most excellent!
I would save Rakitic because of that yellow though.
The plan is to bring Rakitic in for Modric at halftime or after 60 minutes.
Luka Modric is in the starting 11. Same lineup as above except Bradaric stays on the bench.
@Maminjo
“They’re cracking down on players purposely clearing their cards. Brozović did it on purpose I think…”
Brozović never received a yellow card last game, that card went to Corluka.
https://tinyurl.com/ybmw6otn
Iceland need to score several goals.
This will mess up how they usually have to play. We can sit back and counter.
Not good for Iceland when we have several counterattack experts in Perišić, Kovačić and Pjaca playing. Hopefully our guys don’t go all out and get cards /injuries.
My prediction is you’re going to see Kovacic, Pjaca and Kramaric playing harder than the others tomorrow.
@UBoj
Surprised Rakitic didn’t take off his shorts!
Tomorrow I’m going with 2 -0 to us.
Just be patient as they have to open up.
@BZ
Exactly!
@Maminjo,
I’m pretty sure Brozovic only has one card he picked up against Nigeria. If I’m not mistaken, the card in the Argentina match was actually awarded to Corluka.
uBoj, that would have been the perfect technique and time, up by 3 in extra time.
Kind of hard to tell when someone does it on purpose but I guess they should try to crack down on it. Definitely a good move for Brozovic since he does tend to get carded. Did someone get fined or something?
Kovacic needs to play a good game so a new club can sign him.Will be good to see Badelj Pjaca Jedvaj play lets get the draw and move on.
All Rakitic had to do was take off his jersey in celebration after scoring against Argentina to get that second yellow, surprised as well he didn’t take advantage of that opportunity to wipe his yellow slate clean.
They’re cracking down on players purposely clearing their cards.
Brozović did it on purpose I think… But if Raketa did it too, then it would be obvious.
So with all the yellows, looks like Strinic, Vida, and Lovren are the only subs we have (no needs to risk Luka). Likely on for Perisic (at half), Krama (key sub/potential starter), and Corluka (yellow).
Rebic has taken his opportunities and I hope that Kova and Pjaca do the same. I feel like no one on Iceland can stop those two guys.
Only knock I have on Croatia so far is that Rakitic didn’t get a yellow on purpose (ex time wasting) against Argentina. Now he’s still on a yellow and at risk for suspension down the line. Unless you start off with a clean slate after the group stage. I’m pretty sure that yellows get wiped after the QFs.