Moscow: Another nerve-wracking game of football comes to an end. Rakitic scores the off the final penalty to take Croatia into the quarterfinals. Denmark nearly pulled-off an upset after a brilliant save by Kasper Schmeichel off Modric’s penalty, in the extra-time. Both goalkeepers made remarkable saves in the penalty shootouts but Croatia managed to win 3-2 (on penalties) after a 1-1 draw.  Croatia will meet Russia in the quarterfinals. 


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Croatia 1-1 Denmark. Croatia win 3-2 on penalties. 


5-Croatia. GOAL!!!  Rakitic fires the winning shot. Croatia win. 


5-Denmark. Saved!! Another brilliant save by Subasic off Jorgensen's penalty. 


4-Croatia. Saved!!! Kasper Schmeichel saves Josip Pivaric's penalty. 


4-Denmark. Saved!! Danijel Subasic saves  Lasse Schone's shot. 


3-Croatia. GOAL!! Luka Modric scores. 


3-Denmark.GOAL!!  Krohn-Dehli nets his penalty. 


2-Croatia. GOAL!! Kramic scores. 


2-Denmark. GOAL!! Simon Kjaer scores. 


1-Croatia. Saved!! Milan Badelj's shot is saved by Kasper Schmeichel. 


1-Denmark. Saved!! Danijel Subasic saves Eriksen's penalty. 


Penalty shootout!!


Croatia 1-1 Denmark!


Full-time ( Extra-time)!!


1-minute additional time. 


116 minute: SAVED!!! Kasper Schmeichel dives to his left to save Modric's penalty. This is the fourth time that a penalty was saved in the 2018 World Cup. 


114 minute: PENALTY!!!  Wonderful ball by Modric and Rebic beats the goalkeeper in a one-on-one and M. Jorgensen fouls Rebic from the back. Yellow card for Jorgensen. 


113 minute: Denmark's Nicolai Jorgensen picks up a pass inside the box off a throw-in but hits the ball wide. Both teams, as it stands, are heading towards a penalty shootout. 


108 minute: Substitution for Croatia. Milan Badelj replaces Mario Mandzukic. 


108 minute: Denmark Pione Sisto turns inside the box cutting a Croatian player but hits the ball away from the target. 


Croatia 1-1 Denmark!


Half-time ( Extra-time)!


105 minute: Corner for Croatia. Modric fires the ball in but the Denmark defender clears the ball to safety. 


98 minute: Substitution for Denmark. Thomas Delaney is replaced by Michael Krohn-Dehli. 


95 minute: Corner for Denmark. Eriksen whips the ball in but the Croatian goalkeeper punches the ball away for a throw-in. 


Extra-time!!


Croatia 1-1 Denmark!


Full-time!!


90+3 minute: Corner for Denmark. A Danish player picks up a pass outside the box and attempts a shot from distance but hits it wide. That was close. 


3 minutes of Stoppage time!


87 minute: Corner for Croatia. The defence clear the ball away but a Croatian heads it back into the hands of the goalkeeper.  


82 minute: Free-kick to Croatia. Ivan Perisic heads the cross towards the goal, misses by a whisker. 


80 minute: Substitution for Croatia. Josip Pivaric replaces Ivan Strinic. 


78 minute: Brilliant effort Rebic as he smashes a bullet towards the Denmark goal but hits it directly into the hands of the goalkeeper. 


77 minute: Croatia's Modris picks up the ball outside the box and attempts a shot from distance but fires it wide. 


72 minute: Denmark's Poulsen finds a teammate inside the Croatian box with his pass but he hits it directly into the hands of the goalkeeper. That was close. 


71 minute: Substitution for Croatia. Mateo Kovacic replaces Marcelo Brozovic. 


66 minute: Substitution for Denmark. Nicolai Jorgensen is in for Andreas Cornelius.


64 minute: Corner for Croatia. Modric whips the ball in but the Denmark defender heads the ball away. 


61 minute: Denmark's Yussuf Poulsen creates space in the Denmark box but fails to capitalise. That was close. 


59 minute: Croatia's Ivan Perisic makes a cross to the right corner but Rakitic fails to get to the end of it. Goal-kick. 


56 minute: Denmark's Yussuf Poulsen sprints into the Croatian box but his cross gets blocked by a Croatia defender. 


48 minute: Free-kick to Croatia after Rebic goes down in a challenge. 


46 minute: Substitution for Denmark. Lasse Schone in for Andreas Christensen. 



 


Croatia 1-1 Denmark!


Half-time!!


Croatia's Mario Mandzukic does not look comfortable and walks out of the pitch. 


1 minute Stoppage time. 


44 minute: Croatia's Rakitic goes unmarked in the box and fires a bullet towards the Danish goal but the goalkeeper saves it. 


42 minute: Eriksen picks up a pass in the Croatian box but fails to find a teammate with his chip shot. 


39 minute: Free-kick to Croatia on the left-flank. This could be dangerous. Modric gears up to take it. He curls the ball into the box to find Lovren but he heads it wide. 


31 minute: Corner for Denmark. Christian Eriksen crosses it in the middle but the goalkeeper makes a comfortable save.


29 minute: SAVED! Perisic fires a shot from distance but hits it directly into the hands of the goalkeeper who punches it away. 


23 minute: Corner for Denmark. Short pass to Eriksen, who attempts a shot from the distance but hits the ball directly to a Croatian player. 


20 minute: Croatia's Mario Mandzukic goes down in the Denmark penalty box and appeals for a penalty but the Referee disregards it. That was close. 


15 minute: Both Croatia and Denmark look to settle themselves in the midfield. 


12 minute: Corner for Croatia. Modric whips the ball in but it gets cleared by the Danish defenders. 


Croatia 1-1 Denmark!


4 minute: GOAL!!! Mandzukic fires the ball into the Danish goal. His 31st goal for Croatia. What a match this is turning out to be, 2 goals under five minutes. 


Denmark 1-0 Croatia!


1 minute: GOAL!!! Mathias Jorgensen shoots the ball towards the Croatian goalkeeper who fails to stop the ball. Denmark take the lead. 


Denmark have qualified for quarterfinals only once, they beat Nigeria 4-1 ( in the round of 16)  in the 1998 World Cup in France. 


 



 


Lineups


Croatia XI: Danijel Subasic; Sime Vrsaljko, Ivan Strinic, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida; Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic; Ivan Perisic, Luka Modric, Ante Rebic; Mario Mandzukic .


Denmark XI: Kasper Schmeichel; Henrik Dalsgaard, Simon Kjaer, Jonas Knudsen, Andreas Christensen; Mathias Jorgensen, Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Martin Braithwaite, Yussuf Poulsen; Andreas Cornelius.


Croatia have won all their Group D matches, including a 3-0 hammering of Lionel Messi's Argentina. Led by Real Madrid's midfield lynchpin Luka Modric, Croatia also defeated Nigeria and Iceland to top Group D. The pre-quarter-final will be played at the same venue where the Croats thumped Argentina. This time, Croatia have an experienced squad, a strong generation to at least match their best-ever finish of a third place which happened in 1998 World Cup.have


Denmark, meanwhile, are happy to continue flying under the radar, buoyed by a 17-match unbeaten run. They have scored just two goals in three Group C games, finishing as runners-up, but will face their sternest test yet on Sunday. They too are seeking to match their 1998 achievement when they reached the quarter-finals before being beaten by Brazil in what was their best World Cup showing.are


Croatia full squad: 


Goalkeepers - Lovre Kalinic, Dominik Livakovic, Danijiel Subasic


Defenders - Duje Caleta-Car, Vedran Corluka, Tin Jedvaj, Dejan Lovren, Josip Pivaric, Ivan Strinic, Domagoj Vida, Sime Vrsaljko


Midfielders - Milan Badelj, Filip Bradaric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic, Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic


Forwards - Nikola Kalinic, Andrej Kramaric, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic, Marko Pjaca, Ante Rebic


Denmark full squad: 


Goalkeepers - Jonas Lossl, Frederik Ronow, Kasper Schmeichel


Defenders - Andreas Christensen, Mathias Jorgensen, Simon Kjaer, Jonas Knudsen, Jens Stryger Larsen, Jannik Vestergaard


Midfielders - Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Michael Krohn-Dehli, William Kvist, Lukas Lerager, Lasse Schone


Forwards - Martin Braithwaite, Andreas Cornelius, Kasper Dolberg, Viktor Fischer, Nicolai Jorgensen, Yussuf Poulsen, Pione Sisto.