Having secured a ticket to the round of 16, it is not too surprising that Croatia took many key positions on the bench in the match against Iceland. On the other hand, the " island nation" team must win and wait for the result of the match between Argentina and Nigeria to hope for a chance to continue.
Iceland actively plays offensively to seek a victory against Croatia, in addition, their opponent's many key players will be the motivation for Iceland to believe in a positive result.
However, Iceland showed that they are only a team with excellent defense, because when Croatia was ready to give up the game, coach Heimir Hallgrimsson's team could not take advantage of that to create a surprise.
The most notable situation that Iceland did in the first half was Finnbogason's steal from the Croatian midfielder. He then coordinated 1-2 with Sigurdsson and made a technical curling shot, but the ball went just wide of the post.
Unable to score, Iceland had to pay the price with a goal conceded early in the second half. From the combination on the left wing, the ball found midfielder Badelj's feet in an unassisted position. His land smash did not give the Iceland goalkeeper a chance to block it.
Iceland's subsequent efforts were rewarded with a penalty of 11m after Croatian centre-back lovren had the ball touch his hand in the box. On the penalty spot, Sigurdsson did not miss the opportunity to equalize 1-1 for Iceland.
However, in the extra time of the match, after a mistake by defender Iceland, striker Perisic escaped and fired a powerful shot that defeated the Iceland goalkeeper, sealing a 2-1 victory for Croatia.
With a final victory of 2-1, Croatia won the group stage, earning 9 points and being in top of Group D. Luka Modric and his teammates will face Denmark in the round of 16, the second-placed team in Group C.
