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SCORE: Russia 2-2 Croatia (AET); Croatia win 4-3 on penalties
Russia hosted Croatia in the last quarterfinal of the 2018 World Cup. England were lying in wait for the victors of the contest and had to wait quite a bit as a goal each forced extra time before both sides scored again, letting the fate of the cursed penalty shootout decide the outcome of the tie.
Croatia sneaked past the hosts, who were playing their first quarterfinal since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, after a game that was keenly and evenly contested and which was not short on exciting moments including glimpses of brilliance. Both sides had gone through 120 minutes in their previous fixtures and had come out on top after penalties.
On the night, it was the host nation that had to endure the hurt that accompanies exiting the World Cup in the manner that they did. Croatia, meanwhile, managed to set up an intriguing fixture with England in the semi-finals, in part, due to these 3 reasons:
#3 Showed resilience to strike back quickly
Russia have been excellent frontrunners in the competition. After conceding an early own-goal against Spain, Russia essentially went on to win in the remaining 80 minutes of regulation time. So if they could somehow manage to get ahead, like they eventually did thanks to the stunning strike from Dennis Cheryshev, they'd back themselves to fend off Croatia for the rest of the game.
However, after falling behind, Croatia showed resilience and determination, which can often elude the biggest teams on the biggest occasions - like it did Brazil the day before, to hit back just 8 minutes later.
It was important for Croatia to get level as soon as possible because, with 40 odd thousand fans willing their side on to stay ahead, Russia could've proved to be a difficult side to break down with growing self-confidence as the minutes counted down.
However, a well-worked equalizer - Maria Mandzukic drifting deep into opposition territory and finding Kramaric with the perfect cut-back for him to head the ball past Akinfeev - insured that Croatia didn't have to find a way past a Russian wall.
#2 The spin on the ball from Akinfeev's hand on Modric's penalty
Finally, there is growing consensus surrounding Modric's claim for supremacy in the middle of any park, anywhere in the world. The Real Madrid man has gone about his business with minimal fuss for the past decade, first with Tottenham and then with Los Blancos, and now even more impressively, with his national side in their bid for history in Russia.
He has been the guiding light in their quest to emulate the only Croatian side to have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, back in 1998. He has scored twice in Russia, including an absolute stunner against Argentina in the Group Stage, and has been immaculate as ever in pulling the strings for Croatia in midfield.
The only chink in his armour - scoring from the spot. After putting away his first against Nigeria, he went on to miss a golden opportunity to send Croatia through to the quarters against Denmark from 12 yards out in extra-time. Modric then nervously stepped up to take his spot-kick in the shootout and only just about managed to evade Kasper Schmeichel in goal.
In the 120 minutes preceding the penalties against Russia, Modric was at his effervescent best: dropping deep to play the quarterback role and spraying passes all over the park, gliding past opposition players with ease - all the regular magic that accompanies the Croatian.
Then came the time to take the dreaded penalty again. The nervousness gripped him again. He went to the keeper's left. So did Akinfeev, and got his right hand to the ball and pushed it onto the post. It seemed that he had done enough, but the ball spun off the crossbar back over the goal-line and the penalty stood. Margins.
#1 Subasic's heroics and Russia's nerves
Danijel Subasic was the hero for Croatia in the Round of Sixteen win over Denmark after a dramatic penalty shootout. Both keepers on that night - Subasic and Kasper Schmeichel were on top of their game, particularly during the shootout - pulling out save after save. It was Subasic who came out on top in the end in the battle between the keepers.
He would have to do it all over again. This time though, his life was made much easier by the penalty takers. Smolov stepped up to take the first one, waited for the keeper to go one way and then, rather bafflingly, lobbed into Subasic's hand instead of going the other.
More of that shocking finishing was on display from the Russians as their saviour from extra-time, Mario Fernandes, missed the target completely with a grounded shot. Although Subasic didn't have to do an awful lot in the shootout, he was tremendous in goal during the entirety of the game and despite picking up what seemed like a game-ending hamstring injury, soldiered on for the remainder of the game to make a couple of crucial saves because Croatia had used up all their substitutions.
