Croatia 3-1 Scotland
Scotland’s plans on making history by progressing at the Euro 2020 knockout phase may have to wait for now as they got their hearts broken by Croatia.
The Croats sealed their spot in the quarterfinals as they came away 3-1 winners at Hampden Park last Tuesday evening, leaving the home fans in dismay.
Nikola Vlasic punched in the first goal early but it was nullified by Callum McGregor right before the first half ended.
Come the second half, Zlatko Dalic’s side took firm control of the game as the reliable duo of Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic added two more goals to finish off the Scots.
Both sides came into this game with a huge sense of urgency since this is the last ticket to a sure quarterfinals berth in Group D.
With the Croatians now in, their Euro 2020 odds of making a deep run in the tournament has increased, although it will be hard to envision them recreating their 2018 World Cup finals run.
As for Scotland, even if they’ll end their campaign in a whimper, they have a lot of takeaways to digest which should make them stronger in future tournaments.
Highlights of the game
The game started for Croatia in a similar theme during their 1-1 draw against Czech Republic as they had another relatively slow start.
Scotland were so close to score the first goal of night during the seventh minute when Che Adams almost tapped the ball into the net after a lovely cross from his teammate. Moments later, Adams tried another ambitious attempt but to no avail.
The Croats would eventually seize control after the first 17 minutes which culminated to a goal by Nikola Vlasic, when he kicked the ball home after a towering attempt by Ivan Perisic.
Croatia’s confidence grew from that moment but Scotland never wavered as the Southampton duo of Che Adams and Stuart Armstrong continued to threaten at goal.
Eventually, Scotland’s persistence paid off through Callum McGregor’s equaliser on 42 minutes when he put the ball into the net much to the delight of 12,000 home fans after a pull back from Che Adams inside the box.
Right before the halftime break, Scotland almost claimed the advantage when Che Adams went for a header. However, Dominik Livakovic thwarted their opportunity when he parried the cross away.
John McGinn almost recorded an entry into the SBOTOP Euro 2020 highlights reel in the second half when he had a similar chance to what Che Adams had early in the first half.
But when Croatia got their opportunity after the hour mark, Luka Modric plundered home a stunning second goal when he curled the ball from distance with his right foot.
15 minutes after that, Ivan Perisic took advantage at the fatigued Scots as he beat Kieran Tierney at the near post to nod in a header after a delivery from Luka Modric for his second goal of the tournament.
Key statistics
After last night’s win, Croatia have now advanced from the group stages in three consecutive times in major tournaments, having only done so in three of their first eight appearances.
It also marked the Croats first-ever win against the Scots after six matches between the two countries.
Scotland have only won once in their last nine international games (D4, L4) and they’ve been eliminated in the group stages 11 times at major tournaments.
Ivan Perisic has been directly involved in six goals in his last six Euro matches (four goals, two assists), and his goal yesterday equalled Davor Suker’s record for most goals in a major tournament (9).
Luka Modric, on the other hand, has gone full circle with Croatia as he became the oldest (35 years, 286 days) and the youngest (22 years, 73 days in 2008) player to score for Croatia at the Euros.
Callum McGregor also achieved a personal milestone as he became the first Scot to score at the Euros since June 1996. Prior to yesterday, Scotland haven’t scored in the competition despite firing 46 total shots.
What’s next?
Croatia will join England in the Final 16 and they will be preparing for an intense quarterfinals.
We’re still waiting for all of the group stage matches to finish in order to fully determine who will face who in the knockout stages.
As for Scotland, they’ll be at home watching the rest of the games here in Euro 2020.
Callum McGregor said postgame that his country will focus on the continuation of the World Cup 22 qualifiers, which will return on September 2.
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