Croatia 2-1 England (AET): Mandzukic winner sends England home as Croatia enter the final


Croatia will face France in the final of the 2018 World Cup in Moscow after scraping past England 2-1 in extra-time on Wednesday.  2018 World Cup  2 - 1 Ivan Perisic (68')  Mario Mandzukic (109')  Kieran Trippier (5')  Match Events  

5' GOAL! Croatia 0-1 England (Trippier)     GOALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! TRIPPIER SCORES A STUNNER!!! ENGLAND 1-0!!!! Trippier converts from the free-kick to hand England a dream start to the contest.   

The full-back lined up his effort from 20 yards and curled his strike over the wall. Subasic attempted to get across, but the strike was well placed to travel beyond the keeper into the top corner. A super strike to hand the Three Lions the lead.  

15' CLOSE! Maguire's header wide out    WIDE! Trippier floats the ball into the box and Maguire rises to head at goal. He makes decent contact with his header, sending his effort narrowly past the post.  

30' Kane misses two sitters!    CHANCE! Kane has an excellent chance to double England's advantage, only to be denied by Subasic. He goes for the follow-up from a tight angle, but he smashes his effort off the post. If England wanted that chance to fall to one man - it was Kane.  

36' Lingard wastes a fair chance   WIDE! England break on the counter and Kane offloads to Alli on the left flank. He manages to squeeze a pass back to Lingard on the edge of the box. He goes to place his effort, only to sidefoot the ball wide of the post.  

68' GOAL! Croatia 1-1 England (Perisic)     GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! PERISIC EQUALISES FOR CROATIA!!!!! 1-1!!!! Perisic gets in front of Walker at the cross and he guides his strike beyond the reach of Pickford into the bottom corner.   Vrsaljko was afforded space and time on the right flank and he whipped the ball into the box. Perisic made a late run before he stuck his foot out ahead of Walker to steer his effort into bottom corner.  

72' Perisic hits the post for the 2nd match running!    OFF THE POST!! Perisic comes within inches of putting his side ahead. England are all over the place at the back as Stones fails to clear a dangerous ball forward. Perisic pulls the trigger on a left-footed strike, only to be denied by the post. 

 83' Mandzukic shot saved by Pickford   SAVE! Mandzukic drifts into space in the right inside channel to latch on to Brozovic's ball over the top. He goes for the blast at goal, only to be denied by a sharp save from Pickford.  99' Stones header cleared by Vrsaljko on goal line    

OFF THE LINE! Stones rises highest in the box to head at goal from Trippier's cross into the box, but Vrsaljko is in the right place at the right time to head away from danger. A crucial header from the Croatia full-back.  107' Pickford produces save of the day to deny Mandzukic     WHAT A SAVE! Pickford denies Mandzukic. 

Perisic sends a dream of a pass into the feet of Mandzukic in the box. He expects to tap the ball past Pickford into the net, but the keeper is alert to the danger and spreads himself to make the vital block.  

109' GOAL! Croatia 2-1 England (Mandzukic)   GOALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! MANDZUKIC FIRES HOME!!!! 2-1!!!! Croatia take the lead as England fall asleep at the back.   A simple header allows Mandzukick to drift in behind Stones before he slots his strike beyond the reach of Pickford. Croatia are closing in on a place in the final.  

Match Report  Mario Mandzukic's extra-time strike completed a battling turnaround as Croatia beat England 2-1 in Moscow to reach the World Cup final for the first time in their history.  


 England made an electric start with Kieran Trippier's early goal and for a large period of the game looked good value to book their passage to the final for the first time since 1966, but Croatia somehow battled through their apparent jadedness and tamed the Three Lions in extra-time, Mandzukic landing the decisive blow.  

Gareth Southgate consistently downplayed the euphoria in his team in the build-up, and for a while England gave every indication they were going to take charge of their own destiny, as Trippier found the net with a delightful free-kick in the fifth minute. 

 But Croatia rallied and gave England's back three more of an examination upon the start of the second period, 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.  But Croatia kept their focus and Mandzukic struck left-footed in the 109th minute, ending England's dreams for another four years and setting up a final with France on Sunday, as Zlatko Dalic's men move another step closer to a first World Cup title.

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