Reaction and analysis
And that’s your lot. Croatia have made it to the knockout phase with a game to spare, and have sent out a signal that they’re a team to take very seriously indeed. Argentina by contrast are in all sorts of trouble. Their game against Nigeria promises to be huge. Lionel Messi’s last chance to join the World Cup pantheon is looking a long shot right now. Congratulations to Croatia, commiserations to Argentina. Night night!
Argentina Are Not Alone dept.
And here’s our man Paul MacInnes, rating the first week’s winners and losers. A good one for Denis Cheryshev and Mr CR7, not so great for Mo Salah and Neymar.
Here’s the hot take on tonight’s action. Stuart James’s match report from Nizhny Novgorod will follow soon. Expect the comments section to tick over nicely this evening.
Croatia are ecstatic. They go to their fans in celebration. They deserve the right to cavort. That’s the team performance of the World Cup so far. With Modric and Rakitic in such good form, and assisted by the likes of Perisic, Mandzukic, Kramaric and Rebic, they could go very deep in this competition. Argentina by comparison ... oh dear. They were dreadful from front to back. Caballero suffered a nightmare of Karius proportions, while Messi was a total non-event. They now need to beat Nigeria in their last game to have any chance of progressing to the next round, and even then their fate won’t be in their own hands. Their fans are accordingly miserable.
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FULL TIME: Argentina 0-3 Croatia
Croatia are deservedly through to the last 16 of the World Cup! They were as magnificent tonight as Argentina were abject. Messi stomps off with a face on; his dream of winning this World Cup is now hanging by a thread.
90 min +3: Corluka comes on for Mandzukic, and is almost immediately booked for a late tackle.
90 min +2: A look around the stadium, and the blood has drained from a lot of the Argentinian faces. The players look utterly stunned.
GOAL! Argentina 0-3 Croatia (Rakitic 90+1)
Croatia deal with the set piece, and romp up the other end. Rakitic blazes down the middle. His shot is parried brilliantly by Caballero, but the ball breaks to Kovacic on the left. Kovacic simply rolls the ball back to Rakitic, who slams the ball into the bottom left. This is now a humiliation for the two-time winners and 2014 finalists.
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90 min: Messi makes a little bit of space to the right of the Croatia box, and slips the ball inside for Meza, who drops a shoulder, then again, and again, as he embarks on a George Best-style dribble across the face of the area. His eventual shot is blocked for a corner. From which ...
89 min: Modric has another look from distance. Not this time. “If you watched this game knowing nothing about the players and were told one of the world’s best players was on the pitch, you’d never say it was Messi,” writes Brad Wilson. “You’d say it was Luka Modric.”
87 min: Acuna is booked for treading on Vrsaljko’s toes. It’s fair to say this match has had something of an edge. It’s been brilliant to watch, unless you support Argentina of course.
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86 min: Rakitic is inches away from taking perfect revenge on Otamendi and Argentina. He whips the resulting free kick, 25 yards out, over the wall and towards the top left. It’s a stunner, but it slams off the crossbar and away. Caballero was stranded.
85 min: Wahey! It all kicks off! Rakitic is bundled over by Mascherano. It’s a foul, no question. Otamendi comes in and kicks the ball at the prone midfielder’s head. That’s a dismal act. He’s booked, and is fortunate to stay on the pitch. For a second it looks as though the match is about to degenerate into a bench-emptying brawl, but it cools down very quickly.
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84 min: Higuain has a crack from a position just to the left of the D. Subasic gathers easily.
83 min: Meza hooks the ball into the mixer. It’s headed clear with ease. Argentina have been little short of appalling. Croatia have been extremely impressive, mind you. Another run to the semis? Even further than 1998? With the midfield talent they boast, anything is possible.
82 min: Perisic is replaced by Kovacic, whose first act is to concede a free kick out on the right.
GOAL! Argentina 0-2 Croatia (Modric 80)
This is as sensational as the first goal was farcical! Modric picks up possession 25 yards out. He drops a shoulder to confuse Otamendi, shifts the ball a little to the right, and curls an unstoppable shot into the top right! Upfield, Messi drops his head slowly and sadly.
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80 min: Rakitic and Kramaric combine nicely down the left. Rakitic eventually has a dig from the edge of the box. Tagliafico does well to block. Then there’s another phase of attack. And then ...
78 min: Pavon busts down the left and nearly breaks clear, but Lovren tackles him well. Corner. Pavon takes it himself, but it’s cleared at the near post by Kramaric. “I feel for Messi. The GOAT tag weighs heavily on his shoulders. I also feel for Caballero. Unless his teammates can put the ball in the net soon, he’ll be the goat.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the borscht.
76 min: Rakitic goes down in the centre circle, winded. The referee stops the play with Argentina on the attack. Argentina are rightly annoyed, and surround the ref, but it’s done now.
74 min: Messi has a moan at the referee, waving his arms about in frustration over very little. He’s on a rolling boil right now.
73 min: Mandzukic brushes past Mascherano down the right and romps goalwards. He crosses into the centre. Otamendi and Mercado confuse each other, and the ball deflects to Kramaric, who is closed down by Cabellero to the left of goal. He’s got options in the middle, but opts to beat Cabellero himself. And doesn’t. A waste.
71 min: Dybala cuts in from the right and looks to curl one into the top left. It’s a wild effort, but at least it’s something.
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70 min: Modric stumbles through a few challenges in the middle, keeps his balance in astonishing fashion, and flicks Kramaric free down the left. That was sensational play. Kramaric reaches the byline and comes very close to finding Mandzukic in the centre with a pullback. Not quite. Modric is such a wonderful player to watch. A glorious mix of steely determination and pretty skill.
68 min: The last roll of the dice for Argentina: Dybala comes on in place of Perez.
67 min: Vrsaljko is booked for a late slide on Acuna.
66 min: Croatia nearly extend their lead. Rakitic scoops a pass wide right for Vrsaljko, who slips a ball inside for Mandzukic, on the corner of the six-yard area. It’s a lovely slick move. Caballero isn’t an imposing figure here, and there’s space at the near post. Mandzukic tries to flick home, but only flaps the ball into the side netting.
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64 min: From the set piece, Otamendi sends a header over the bar. Argentina have stepped it up since going behind.
63 min: Higuain is sent bombing towards the byline on the left by Perez. He pulls it back for Meza, who surely must score from six yards! He sidefoots towards the bottom left. Subasic palms the ball out, though he tried his best to palm it into the net. Rakitic slides in to poke the ball out for a corner.
Lionel Messi as the Argentinian attempts to follow up. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
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61 min: Messi picks up the pace with a speed dribble, his first serious contribution of the evening. He nearly sets Higuain free down the right, but the move peters out. Much better, though, from both Messi and Argentina. “Give Zafar Sobhan a cigar,” writes Sam Hankins. “He called it exactly!” Yep. You’ve gotta love our readership.
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59 min: Mandzukic is booked for a late lunge on Meza. In the stand, Diego Maradona chomps on his nails.
57 min: The entire stadium seems shocked at the nature of that howler. Shades of the atmosphere at the Champions League final after Loris Karius’s error. They replace Salvio with Pavon. Croatia meanwhile swap the injured goalscorer Rebic with Kramaric.
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55 min: Argentina respond by taking off Aguero and sending Higuain on. Perisic goes at Argentina down the right, winning a corner, but the set piece comes to nothing.
GOAL! Argentina 0-1 Croatia (Rebic 53)
What an absurd error by Willy Caballero! Dealing with a simple backpass, he tries to chip a pass wide right to Mercado. But he doesn’t get enough on it, simply teeing it up in mid-air for Rebic, who meets it first time with a screaming volley into the top right! Oh Willy!
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53 min: Messi drifts in from the right and feeds Tagliafico, who slips a pass down the inside left for Aguero. A shot from a tight angle, but it’s easily gathered by Subasic. Then Croatia go straight up the other end and ...
51 min: Modric sweeps a pass out left for Rebic, who tears down the wing in great style, sashaying past a couple of challenges. Then he’s taken out by Mercado, who sticks a leg across his knees. Hilariously old-school. He’s booked, and doesn’t bother complaining.
50 min: Vrsaljko and Acuna squabble on the touchline over a throw. Perisic romps down the right but his cross is easily dealt with. This is scrappy right now.
49 min: Hesitation from Lovren, followed by confusion between Brozovic and Vida. Croatia do not convince at the back. Aguero nearly takes advantage, but the ball clanks out of play. Another phase, and Acuna has a whack from distance, but Lovren blocks well this time. “Messi to me is blameless as he is forced by vice and not virtue of this humdrum Argentine XI to not just be himself, he has to be Iniesta as well,” opines Hubert O’Hearn. “His career cannot be judged on a World Cup. Football is a team sport. One that frames its greatest players, but a frame made of shirt cardboard is not gilt gold.”
47 min: Both teams take turns to have a little feel of the ball, re-familiarising themselves with it. A slow start to the second half, in other words. Here’s Zafar Sobhan: “This game will be decided by a grotesque defensive error. Only thing that remains to be seen is by whom. Not the boldest of predictions I know, sorry.”
And we’re off again! No half-time changes by either team. Argentina get the party restarted. They’ll be hoping to bring it up a notch or two. Messi only touched the ball 20 times in that first half; Aguero just seven. “It seems telling that Croatia’s key player, Modric, is a passing play maker, whereas Argentina’s key player, Messi, is more of a dribbler,” begins David Wall. “So when Modric plays well it means Croatia play well. But when Messi plays well it means that Messi plays well. That may in itself decide a game, but it doesn’t really make the team as a whole convince. Perhaps the manager should just tell him to get over the idea of trying to win it himself, and instead base their play on the abilities of all eleven, with Messi as an exceptional component of that.”
Half-time reading: The action from earlier, in case you’re just in from work, or whatever it is they say on the telly ...
HALF TIME: Argentina 0-0 Croatia
It’s goalless, but very intriguing. Both teams should have scored; both teams could easily have had a man sent off. Messi has done nothing. The second half promises to be quite the event.
45 min +2: Modric sends Rebic clear down the left with a glorious diagonal pass. But Rebic lets the ball get stuck under his feet. He’s forced to check back, then attempt a curler into the top right, which he gets all wrong.
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45 min: There will be two added minutes. This half has flown by.
44 min: Tackles continue to fly in. Meza stands on Vrsaljko’s ankle. That’s a really bad one as well. Again, VAR checks it and decides there’s no need to escalate things.
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42 min: Brozovic, out on the right, crosses long for Rebic, who can’t quite get the ball under control immediately. He tangles again with Salvio, who stumbles. Suddenly Rebic has space on the left flank, but the referee blows for a generous free kick. Argentina got away with that one.
40 min: Rebic is booked for planting his studs on Salvio’s shin. It was a nasty one, it should have been a red card. Though it’s been checked by the VAR, and it’s not considered a clear and obvious error.
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38 min: Tagliafico makes good down the left, but sends a harmless looping cross into the arms of Subasic. To be fair, he hardly had a man to aim for in the Croatian box. Argentina strangely non-committal.
36 min: Mercado is down getting some treatment, after being winded in an aerial 50-50 duel with Rebic. He took a knee in the chest, though it looked accidental, both players going for the ball in the no-nonsense style.
34 min: Salvio nips past Strinic and gets an arm in the mush for his trouble. The Croatian defender is slightly lucky to get away without a booking, but this referee is good-humoured and lenient. And to be fair, we’ve hardly noticed him. Speaking of which ... “There’s nothing wrong with Messi’s involvement in this game that the immediate Argentinian recruitment of the other 10 Barcelona first team wouldn’t fix,” writes Charles Antaki, who may or may not be trying to start an argument just for the sheer hell of it.
32 min: Vida sees his clearance charged down by Messi, but the ball makes it back to Subasic. Croatia go up the other end and nearly score: Vrsaljko curls a glorious cross into the box from the right. On the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, Mandzukic is free! But he stoops and sends his point-blank header wide left! What a miss! That’s one apiece now. How/why is this still 0-0?!
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30 min: So having said that, there goes that shape! Lovren hesitates and falls over, allowing Salvio to nick the ball off him. He’s free in the box, but facing a tight angle on the left. He pulls back for Perez, who faces an empty net, Subasic having gone walkabout. He must score, but sends his first-time slapshot wide left of goal!
29 min: Argentina are beginning to push Croatia back, their first period of genuine dominance in the match. No way through yet, though, as the men in black keep their shape.
27 min: Meza whips the corner straight into the side netting. What a waste. What a run by Aguero, mind: the most dangerous Argentina have looked so far.
26 min: Aguero runs at Croatia down the left. His power dribble sends Vida into a backtracking panic. He reaches the byline and chips inside, but Strinic steps in to head behind for a corner.
24 min: Rebic spins on a sixpence to make himself some space on the right, then feeds the overlapping Vrsaljko. The full back clumps the ball too far ahead of himself, and the danger’s over, but for a split second there Argentina looked very exposed.
22 min: Space for Acuna out on the left. He crosses, overhits it, and the ball twangs the top of the Croatian crossbar! A mishit outswinger, it was never threatening to actually creep into the net.
20 min: More Argentinian nerves on display, as Tagliafico nearly gives up possession on the edge of his own area. The referee generously blows for a free kick, there having been contact with Mandzukic. It’s just as well for Argentina, because Modric was onto the loose ball, and would have been one on one with Caballero.
19 min: This is hotting up quite nicely. Perez is shoved over by Brozovic, but doesn’t get the free kick; Mascherano bowls Modric to the floor and he’s penalised. Argentina surround the referee in the indignant style. The ref performs the international mime for dive, and grins.
18 min: Another period of sterile Argentinian possession ends when Otamendi needlessly passes the ball out of play in the middle in a show of nerves.
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16 min: Rakitic and Perez slide in for a 50-50 in the midfield. Rakitic comes off worse. It’s a foul, but not a terrible challenge. After frowning quite a lot, Rakitic eventually gets up. Happily, both players are good to continue.
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15 min: Argentina pass it around quite a lot in the middle, but don’t really go anywhere. Croatia are still buzzing around at speed, closing down all the space.
13 min: Meza races down the right and pulls the ball back for Salvio, whose shot from the penalty spot is deflected over the bar by Lovren. The resulting corner is wasted. But this is lovely and open, and surely won’t end goalless.
12 min: But Argentina aren’t too shabby going forward either. Perez chips a cute pass down the inside-left channel, and Messi nearly meets the ball dropping over his shoulder, Jamie Vardy style. But not quite.
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10 min: Modric really looks in the mood tonight. He’s beginning to dictate the play. He tees the ball up for Rakitic on the edge of the Argentina area. Rakitic loops diagonally for Vrsaljko, who has sprung the trap on the right! But his sidefooted volley, meant as a pass for Manzukic in the middle, is weak and intercepted. A pretty move, though, and Croatia are looking very tidy indeed up front.
9 min: Tagliafico is slightly fortunate not to go in the book after standing on the foot of Mandzukic in the centre circle. Just a ticking off from the referee.
8 min: A throw to Argentina deep in Croatian territory down the right. But they’re pressed all the way back to the halfway line. This is a busy, brisk, open game, and Croatia look very sharp.
6 min: Modric’s corner is dealt with easily enough by Argentina. But the ball’s quickly coming back at Argentina, and another long pass is launched down the left in the hope of releasing Perisic again. The winger’s in a ludicrous amount of space once more, but this time he’s gone too early and the flag goes up for offside.
5 min: Argentina go to sleep at the back, and Perisic is allowed to race into acres down the inside-left channel. He enters the box and looks for the bottom right. His shot is on target, but Caballero fingertips spectacularly out for a corner. That’s a fine save, and nearly a dream start for Croatia!
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4 min: Both sets of fans are giving it plenty. They know there’s a lot on this match. Not least because the runner up in this group is likely to play France in the next round.
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2 min: There’s a cracking atmosphere in the stadium. And nearly an early chance for Argentina, as Otamendi rakes a pass down the right in the hope of releasing Salvio. He’s not far from making it, but the ball flies out for a goal kick with Croatia very light at the back.
And we’re off! Croatia get the party started. “As an Icelander I’ve seen a lot of teams play Iceland in the last few years,” begins Kári Tulinius. “I thought Argentina played very well, better than Croatia did last time, certainly. The Icelandic team is very difficult to play against and had Messi converted that penalty they would’ve won. I’m expecting Argentina to win tonight.”
The teams are out! Argentina are in their famous blue-and-white-striped shirts, while Croatia sport their second-choice black check. As the anthems play, Messi rubs his forehead while wearing an extremely pained expression, almost as though the pressure of carrying half the world’s hopes and dreams is wearing him down. We’ll be off in a minute! “If you’re going to post a Croatia-themed Seinfeld clip it’s only sporting to provide one for their South American rivals as well (and impugn an entire continent in the process),” adds Jerry Parks.
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These two countries have only met once at the World Cup. That was back in 1998, the year Croatia were 43 minutes away from the final. It wasn’t much of a match, because both teams had already qualified from Group H: Ariel Ortega set up Mauricio Pineda for the only goal. Outside of the finals, it’s one win each and a draw. Good luck calling this, then.
The national anthems: The Himno Nacional Argentino is a stately affair, which threatens once or twice to turn into the theme tune to Van der Valk, but doesn’t. ♭♮♯ May the laurels be eternal / that we were able to achieve / Let us live crowned in glory / O let us swear to die with glory ♭♮♯
The Croatian number, Lijepa naša domovino, is even grander, proceeding at such ceremonial pace that it threatens to grind to a halt once or twice, but never does. ♭♮♯ Our beautiful homeland / O so fearless and gracious / Our fathers’ ancient glory / May you be happy forever ♭♮♯
While we’re on the subject of Menotti ... here’s a short story about the man, courtesy of everyone’s favourite football periodical, The Blizzard.
Pre-match playtime. Before this World Cup started, we asked Juan Sebastián Verón to pick an all-time World Cup XI to represent Argentina. Here’s what he came up with. And now you can do the same, channelling your inner César Luis Menotti to your heart’s content! Oh yes!
Croatia make one change to the starting XI sent out against Nigeria. In comes Marcelo Brozovic of Internazionale; out goes Andrej Kramaric of Hoffenheim.
Argentina make three changes to their team, though, after the disappointing draw with Iceland. Sporting Lisbon’s Marcos Acuna, River Plate’s Enzo Perez and Sevilla’s Gabriel Mercado replace PSG’s Angel Di Maria, Milan’s Lucas Biglia and Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo.
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The teams
Argentina: Caballero, Mercado, Otamendi, Tagliafico, Salvio, Mascherano, Perez, Acuna, Messi, Aguero, Meza.
Subs: Guzman, Ansaldi, Biglia, Fazio, Banega, Higuain, Di Maria, Rojo, Lo Celso, Dybala, Pavon, Armani.
Croatia: Subasic, Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Strinic, Rakitic, Brozovic, Rebic, Modric, Perisic, Mandzukic.
Subs: Livakovic, Corluka, Kovacic, Kramaric, Jedvaj, Bradaric, Caleta-Car, Badelj, Pjaca, Pivaric, Nikola Kalinic, Lovre Kalinic.
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan).
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Preamble
Argentina went into this tournament as one of the favourites to win the whole shebang. Hey, if you’ve got Lionel Messi in your side, it’s not the wildest notion. But if, for a while, it became easy to forget how they scraped through qualifying, their turgid performance against Iceland served as a sharp reminder that this isn’t the greatest vintage of the Albiceleste. Suddenly you wonder: the two-time winners and five-time finalists couldn’t crash out in the groups, could they?
There’d be a fair chance of that happening if they don’t do the business against Croatia tonight. The Croats eased past the much-heralded Nigerians in their opening game, and any team with Luka Modrić pulling the strings is going to pose problems. Especially if you’ve got a rickety defence. So, this is potentially highly interesting, the first case of big-team jeopardy at the 2018 World Cup.
Both of these teams look their happiest when going forward. Accordingly, you’d think both will go in search of the win: Croatia because they’ll qualify for the next round with one, Argentina because they kind of need it. Should be a cracker, then. It’s on!
Kick off: 7pm BST, 9pm at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
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