Coach Zlatko Dalic was livid on the “horrible refereeing” proven throughout Croatia’s dramatic 2-1 loss to Portugal, including that VAR had taken the enjoyable out of soccer.
Croatia took the lead within the 53rd minute with Ivan Perisic’s seventh aim of the match, however they had been eradicated from the World Cup at Toronto Stadium.
At that second, Nikola Vlasic’s aim was dominated out for offside, which noticed Rafael Leao’s shot from exterior the field rattle the crossbar.
Cristiano Ronaldo was then denied by an offside flag, however the Portugal captain scored the equalizer from the penalty spot after Renato Veiga was dragged inside the realm by Vlasic.
Ronaldo made no mistake from 12 yards remaining, however extra drama was to comply with. Petar Susic thought he had scored for Croatia within the eightieth minute when he slotted previous Diogo Costa, however his third aim of the match was dominated out for offside.
Gonzalo Ramos headed the ball into the online within the 94th minute, however Croatia had been denied an equalizer in stoppage time. Josko Gvardiol poked residence, however his cross into the field was adjudged to have been touched by Igor Matanovic, and Mario Pašić, who crossed to the Manchester Metropolis defender, collected the ball in an offside place.
Referee Espen Escazu disallowed the aim after a VAR overview, and Dalic was sad with the referee and the choice that led to Croatia’s elimination.
“It was very unhealthy officiating,” Dalic instructed reporters. “However Croatia misplaced. I am not going to search out excuses. We may have gained sooner.”
“You’ll be able to see how a lot emotion is actually killed and total these choices set you again and actually take away the enjoyment of soccer.
“I am not saying VAR is not helpful typically, however it kills the emotion, it kills all the things, it kills what you are experiencing. It isn’t simple to take care of all this.”
My coronary heart was damaged however by no means damaged. Pleasure stays. #polcro
Drago Soputa / HNS #WorldCup #HrabarBroj #Vatreni pic.twitter.com/YHpr4jTYBc
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) July 3, 2026
Croatia’s defeat was additionally Luka Modric’s final likelihood at World Cup glory, with the veteran midfielder making his twenty third look within the competitors, one in all solely 4 gamers to have managed extra within the competitors’s historical past.
Modric is reportedly set to retire as a world participant following Croatia’s World Cup defeat, doubtlessly ending his 20-year profession as a world participant.
Modric, 40, is Croatia’s most capped participant with 201 appearances, and Dalic stated this was not the tip he had envisioned for Modric’s worldwide profession.
“Effectively, this was most likely his final World Cup,” Dalic stated of the midfielder. “And I’m sorry it ended the way in which it did.”
However whereas it was a brand new chapter within the World Cup for Croatia, who completed runners-up in 2018 and third 4 years in the past, Dalic was excited concerning the future.
The typical age of Croatia’s beginning lineup is 30 years and 99 days, making them the oldest gamers to begin in a World Cup match apart from the group stage since Croatia’s third-place match in 1998 (30 years and 126 days).
“I am not nervous about the way forward for the Croatian group,” Dalic added. “We’ve lots of younger gamers coming in and a few of them confirmed their high quality at the moment.
“We’re on the finish of a terrific period,” he added. “And a few new beginnings await us.”
Dalic additionally gave no perception into his future as Croatia’s nationwide group coach. He has been the supervisor since 2017 and has gained 57 of the 111 video games he has been in control of throughout all competitions (D26 L28).
“God is aware of what is going to occur on the subsequent World Cup, however we’ll discuss it in Croatia,” Dalic stated.
