Croatia will face France in the finals of World Cup 2018.
Mario Mandzukic struck hard in the second-half of the extra time, making Croatia beat England with 2-1 in Moscow, to reach the World Cup finals for the first time in their history. Miraculous!
England made an incredible electric start, with Kieran Trippler's early goal seemed like it would catapult England to the final stage, for the first time in 1966, but Croatians, known for their great speed battled hard.
Gareth Southgate repeatedly downplayed the euphoria in his team in the build-up, and for a while England gave every indication they were going to take charge, as Trippier found the net in a delightful free-kick, in the fifth minute.
Croatia rallied and gave England’s back three more of an examination upon the start of the second half, eventually restoring parity – Ivan Perisic providing a clever finish in the 68th minute.
England managed to hang on to force an extra 30 minutes and initially looked the more threatening of the two teams once again in the additional period.
The two teams were so tough that they were given additional time twice, the first five minutes and the extra 30 minutes, it looked threatening, but Croatia remained focused, with their speed and accuracy, Mandzukic struck in the 109th minute, scoring the goal that ended England's dreams, the miraculous strike that catapulted them to the final stage with France on Sunday. Zlatko Dalic will be highly impressed, his men are a step closer to a World Cup Title.
Who knows what will happen next? This World Cup has been filled with surprises. Who will take the trophy home?
Well, let us keep watching...
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