Croatia qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup and left Argentina on the brink of elimination with a 3-0 victory on Thursday night.
Below are four talking points from the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
1. Modric masterclass helps Croatia on their way
Luke Modric scored the game’s decisive goal to double his side’s lead in the 80th minute, finding the bottom corner after creating half a yard of space for himself on the edge of the box. That was merely the icing on the cake of a fantastic all-round performance from the Real Madrid maestro, who was the outstanding player on the pitch in a famous win for his country.
Fielded alongside Ivan Rakitic and Marcelo Brozovic in a midfield three, Modric was excellent in both the defensive and attacking phases of play. He created a fine chance for Ante Rebic just before half-time and his passing was tremendous throughout, while his ability to resist the opposition press is invaluable to this Croatia side. The 32-year-old has been involved in controversy back home, but he delivered on the pitch to help the Vatreni through to the last 16.
2. Listless Argentina on verge of early exit
The first half of this content was pretty even, but there is no doubt that Croatia deserved their victory by the end of the 90 minutes. Enzo Perez wasted a golden opportunity on the half-hour mark, yet that chance only came about because of a Croatian error. The Albiceleste could not get Lionel Messi into the game and, given that this is a team entirely built around the Barcelona star, they lacked alternative ideas.
At the other end of the field, meanwhile, Argentina continually struggled to play out from the back, and Willy Caballero gifted Rebic the opening goal with a terrible attempted pass. There was still plenty of time for them to get back into the match at 1-0 down, but instead they capitulated – and their -3 goal difference could be what knocks them out next week.
3. Croatia manage game brilliantly at 1-0 up
Croatia may have had a major goalkeeping error to thank for their first goal – although Rebic deserves credit for a delightful volleyed finish – but they could not have managed the game any better at 1-0 up. Zlatko Dalic’s charges formed a solid defensive shape out of possession while ensuring they retained a counter-attacking threat to give Argentina something to think about going the other way.
As Jorge Sampaoli went more and more gung-ho as the minutes ticked away, Croatia began to mount increasingly dangerous breaks. Both Modric and Rakitic’s goals came about after the Vatreni pinched the ball and immediately raced forward, and Dalic will be delighted with how professionally his team controlled proceedings in the second half.
4. Sampaoli system switch doesn’t pay off
Sampaoli regularly employed a 3-4-3 formation during his time in charge of Chile, whom he led to the Copa America title in 2015. It was that shape which he turned to here, but the switch did not pay off and Argentina now find themselves staring elimination in the face.
Even when the match was still goalless, Rebic and Ivan Perisic repeatedly exploited the space in behind the Argentina wing-backs. Messi took up central positions for most of the game despite nominally being an inside forward on the right-hand side of the pitch, and Sampaoli’s side did not sufficiently address such lop-sidedness when they were defending.
The ex-Chile boss threw on Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Cristian Pavon as Argentina searched desperately for an equaliser, but there was no clear plan or idea behind such substitutions. Simply cramming as many attacking players into your on-field XI is not a good enough strategy at this level, and the Albiceleste were duly picked apart by a more coherent, well-coached outfit in the closing stages.
