foto: Drago Sopta/HNS

Four and a half years ago in Moscow, Croatia defeated England to reach the FIFA World Cup final, and had the same opportunity this year in Qatar against Argentina, but it wasn't meant to be.

Although the Vatreni performed well in the first half an hour, Argentina opened the scoring as Messi converted the penalty kick, while Alvarez bursted through Croatia's defence to double this lead just five minutes later.

foto: Drago Sopta/HNS

After the break, Croatia came searching for yet another comeback, with Oršić, Vlašić, and Petković all coming on. Still, it was Argentina who found the third, when Messi's solo run allowed Alvarez to score again (3:0).

On Saturday, 16:00 CET, Croatia will face either France or Morocco in the third place play-off.

foto: Drago Sopta/HNS

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