With an equaliser in the 98th minute, Mattia Zaccagni crushed Croatian hearts and advanced Italy to the Euro 2024 last 16, leaving their opponents facing certain elimination.
After securing second place in Group B behind Spain in thrilling scenes in Leipzig, Italy will take on Switzerland on Saturday in Berlin, defying expectations that Luka Modric’s spectacular opening goal would put Croatia into the knockout stages.
In order to advance as one of the top third-place teams, Croatia, who also let Albania score a goal in stoppage time, now need England to defeat Slovenia by a minimum of three goals on Tuesday.
Italy had run out of time and was desperate. Modric’s second-half spot attempt was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma after Davide Frattesi was called for a handball following a VAR assessment. However, 33 seconds later, the 38-year-old magician scored from close range before tearfully rejoicing with his teammates.
The Croatian fans gave Modric a standing ovation after he was substituted off with ten minutes of normal time left. It appeared as though his most recent amazing moment would propel Croatia into another significant tournament knockout journey. Rather, it appears like this will be his last major tournament appearance for his country, having earned his 178th cap.
Italy was desperately trying to find a response as Alessandro Bastoni missed another huge headed opportunity to go with his effort that Dominik Livakovic wonderfully saved early on and Gianluca Scamacca failed to turn in Federico Chiesa’s low cross. However, it was sub Zaccagni who changed the storyline with his first international goal.
After lunging forward, Riccardo Calafiori fed the Lazio winger via the left channel. His right-footed finish, curved beautifully and bent inside the far post. A devastating setback to Croatia, but also a beautiful moment.
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