Not long after, the final whistle blew. The Croatian players collapsed. In the stands at Leipzig Stadium, the plaid-clad fans who had been dancing and singing earlier suddҽnly fell silent.

With just two points from three games, Croatia finished third in Group B. In theory, they could still qualify for the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. But Croatia need England to bҽat Slovenia by at least three goals on the evening of June 25 to keep their hopes alive. If that happens, Modric and his teammates need to host the Czech Republic and Georgia lose in the final round of Group F. These are very unlikely conditions.

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Croatia have only themselves to blame for this situation. In two consecutive matches, they have lost a victory in injury time. In the previous round, Zlatko Dalic’s team were held to a 2-2 draw by Albania thanks to a goal in the fifth minute of injury time by Fatmir Gjasula. Croatia tried very hard to avoid the same thing happening, and in fact, they had their moment. In a must-win situation, Ante Budimir was brought on, allowing Andrej Kramaric to return to the left wing in the second half. The No. 9’s ability to cause trouble for the Italian defense was disrupted. It was he who shot into the hand of Davide Frattesi, causing the referee to award a penalty to Croatia after reviewing the VAR.

Although he could not defeat Gianluigi Donnarumma on the 11m mark, in the next a𝔱𝔱ack, Modric successfully finished to put Croatia ahead. At 38 years and 289 days old, the midfielder from Croatia broke the record of famous player Ivica Vastic, becoming the oldest person to score at Euro.