Euro Result: Croatia 1-1 Italy

Euro Result: Croatia 1-1 Italy

Deep into extra time, Mattia Zaccagni netted the equalizer to negate Luka Modrić’s attempt and advance Italy.


During the early going, Croatia had a near-monopoly on possession. Luka Sučić’s rasping effort from 25 meters was headed for the top corner when Gianluigi Donnarumma intervened. The Azzurri maintained their composure and developed into the match, as well as their new 3-5-2 style. Mateo Retegui’s tight nod wide of Riccardo Calafiori’s cross almost put them ahead.

They got even closer when Dominik Livaković made an incredible reaction save after Alessandro Bastoni strongly headed Nicolò Barella’s cross toward goal. In addition, the goalie had to foil Lorenzo Pellegrini as the Vatreni defense, which had allowed five goals in their first two games, began to buckle.

Zlatko Dalić had said before the game, “The main issue is that we have been conceding goals too easily,” yet the coach decided to start Ante Budimir up front at halftime because of Croatia’s lack of offensive threat. It seemed to have the desired effect when Davide Frattesi, another half-time substitution, handled a goal-bound attempt from Andrej Kramarić, resulting in a penalty kick. However, Donnarumma dove low to his left to stop Luka Modrić’s spot kick.

The Croatian motto is ‘best when it’s toughest,’ and Modrić’s answer typified that energy and tenacity as, a minute after Donnarumma had first parried Budimir’s shot, he finished with a rebound to give his side the lead. Croatia was aiming for a best-third-place slot when Zaccagni twisted his strike around Livaković from Calafiori’s pass in the last seconds of the match, booking the Azzurri a round of 16 match against Switzerland. Dalić’s defense thereafter appeared to have fought back the flow.


Important Statistics

  • At 38 years and 289 days, Modrić became the oldest scorer in the history of the EURO championships.
  • The past four encounters between Croatia and Italy have all ended in draws.
  • In the past nine meetings between these two countries, the Vatreni are undefeated (W3 D6).
  • After EURO 2004, this was only the second occasion Croatia has finished a final tournament group without a victory.
  • Italy has now advanced to the round of 16 in each of the previous five European Championships. They were eliminated from the group stage the previous time it happened in 2004.
  • Never before have the Azzurri lost two straight EURO final tournament games. Since they were defeated by Costa Rica and Uruguay in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, they have not lost consecutive major event final games.
  • At the age of 25 years and 120 days, Donnarumma became the youngest Italian player to feature in 10 EURO finals. Federico Chiesa, who is 26 years and 243 days old, has become the second youngest. Leonardo Bonucci established the previous record at EURO 2016 (29 years and 57 days). In addition, Donnarumma made history as the youngest goalie in EURO history to reach this milestone.
  • In the EURO final tournament match, Dalić led Croatia for the eighth time, matching Slaven Bilić’s record.
  • The current EURO champions and Croatia met five times in the group rounds of the competition. They defeated Spain 1-0 in 2012, tied 2-2 with France in 2004, defeated Denmark 3-0 in 1996, and defeated La Roja 2-1 in 2016.

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