Scotland knocked out after Croatia loss

Scotland have been knocked out of Euro 2020 after a 3-1 loss to Croatia.

The Tartan Army needed to beat Croatia to qualify for the second round but goals from Nikola Vlasic, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic was enough to give Croatia the win.

Callum McGregor cancelled out Vlasic’s opener just before halftime and John McGinn came close to giving Scotland the lead in the second half but Modric’s strike from outside the penalty area consigned Scotland to fourth place in Group D.

Perisic completed the scoring late on when he headed in from a corner.

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The win means that Croatia have booked their place in the last-16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Scotland started the game well with Che Adams looking lively again after his good performance against England.

But it was Croatia who went ahead in the 17th minute when Perisic cushioned a header to Vlasic who finished into the bottom corner.

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McGinn forced Dominik Livakovic into a superb save and Scott McTominay’s header was blocked before Scotland got the equaliser.

The Croatia defence failed to clear crosses from Stuart Armstrong and Andy Robertson and the ball eventually fell to McGregor who powered the ball low into the net from 18 yards.

Josko Gvardiol nearly regained the lead for Croatia after the break when he was put through on goal but superb goalkeeping by David Marshall kept the score level.

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And McGinn came within inches of giving Scotland the lead but could only head a Robertson cross wide from close range.

Modric put Croatia ahead in stunning fashion just after the hour mark when he shot first-time inside the left post from 20 yards.

The result was put beyond doubt when Modric’s corner found Perisic who headed across goal into the bottom right corner.

Cover Photo: “2012 Olympic Football – Hampden Park (3)” by daniel0685 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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