Croatia vs Italy live updates (2024)

Italy striker Mateo Retegui, speaking post-match, said: "It was a great satisfaction, we are very happy because we played against a team of great quality, demonstrating all our personality after the defeat against Spain.

"A striker always wants to score but we are a team. The important thing today was to draw and get through.

"Now we're going step by step, we'll play against another strong team in Switzerland but we want to win and go forward."

Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori, excellent throughout, said: "I cannot explain my feelings right now because I'm so happy.

"I think we deserved this goal a lot. We proved that we could play like this. We have to keep going on this path.

"When you play with no fear and you have the game in your hands, it's completely different.

"The important thing is the attitude you put on the pitch. At this level, every team is more or less on the same level and the team that is more determined to win finally gets the better (result)."

Goalscorer Mattia Zaccagni opened up on the emotion of his goal, saying: "It was an indescribable emotion.

"Scoring the goal that helped the team to qualify, I'm so happy.

"(Riccardo) Calafiori gave (me) a fantastic ball, then the hug of the entire team, it was amazing."

Croatia defender Marin Pongracic said: "It's hard to find the words after this. We are all very disappointed, this was like a big final match for us. We wanted that win more than anything else.

"Of course, we could have been in the better situation before this match, but we weren't, so we had to defeat Italy. We gave everything we could, but it wasn't enough.

"Maybe it's not a coincidence to concede a goal in the last moments of the match in two consecutive matches, especially against Albania. We need to do the deeper analysis of why is this happening. That's why it hurt even more after today.

"We are really sorry to our amazing fans, but we are sorry because of us even more. We know we could have done more than this with what we showed in today's match."

Italy boss Luciano Spalletti hailed the impact of his substitutes, saying: "The guys who came on are giants in terms of what they showed.

"Those that played for 10 mins were absolutely crucial, they kept the game in the balance, they did things perfectly."

Dalic, asked to explain why he brought off talismanic midfielder Luka Modric, added: "I think he scored a wonderful goal, it would have been a nice goal if he scored from 12 yards (too).

"I didn't want to waste him for more minutes, we needed to freshen things up in terms of personnel, he wasn't in any way tired.

"It was my decision, I wanted to bring someone on who was a bit fresher because Luka had given everything."

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic, speaking in his post-match press conference, said: "Yeah, it really hurts, it still hurts and it will still hurt over the coming weeks and months, it's not easy.

"You can't have eight minutes of added time in that game, eight minutes! It's a nonsense, I don't really want to get into it too much, we had a couple of penalties our way, don't want to cause a fuss, but Croatia needs to be respected, recognised, we played for almost three hours.

"Were it Spain, Portugal, Germany, no... As you know FIFA and UEFA, we're a small country, no one gives us too much thought so we have to stand up for ourselves.

"I want to thank the players, I want to thank the fanbase, we are delighted and very proud of them."

Luka Modric labelled football “cruel and merciless” after Croatia were all but eliminated from Euro 2024 by a 98th-minute Italy equaliser.

“We kept battling right until the end but unfortunately football was merciless tonight, football was cruel,” Modric said. “Not only today but also in our last game when we conceded a late goal (in the 95th minute against Albania).

“It’s hard when you lose like this to find the words to describe how you feel. Of course we need to bounce back but that’s the way it is. Perhaps it’s unfair because we all fought for Croatia from the first whistle to the last, the footballing gods don’t always smile on us.

“I’d also like to keep playing for ever, but there’ll probably come a time when I have to hang up my boots,” he added. “I’ll keep playing on but I don’t know for how much longer.”

The heartbreakingly fine margins between success and failure were written across the face of Luka Modric on day 11 of Euro 2024 as Croatia were pretty much eliminated by conceding to Italy in the last act of their game.

All the while the beer cups rained down from the stands, more of that in a bit, on a day that witnessed the start of Barnabas Varga’s road to recovery with surgery after his sickening head clash on Sunday.

Plus, a continuing squabble involving England (who also advanced) and Spain becoming the first team to win three games from three, advancing as Group B winners.

Below, The Athletic's writers explain the key talking points from today at the Euros.

Defeated Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic, speaking after the match, said: "Last minute Albania, last minute today. I can only congratulate the guys on the fight, the willingness, the sacrifice they showed. But here it is, it's not our tournament.

"Croatia were good, especially in the first half. We didn't concede a goal, that's what we didn't manage to do against Spain and Albania. I can only congratulate the guys on a great fight.

"We've missed two penalties, we conceded two goals in injury time, that's what it is. A theory about going further?

"Well, we can't influence that, we had the situation in our hands. Thank you to the people who cheered us on, I'm sorry for them, I'm mostly disappointed because of that."

That one in the Croatia penalty area, of course, being the key one.

He only entered the match in the 81st minute, but the Lazio winger had quite the impact.

The manner of Mattia Zaccagni's finish tonight, a right-footed, first-time curling effort from the left side of the penalty area, across the goalkeeper and into the top-right corner had echoes of another famous Italian goal.

Namely, Alessandro Del Piero's stunner against Germany in the 2006 World Cup semi-final.

When asked about the comparison, Zaccagni said: "Alex was my idol. I had his poster in my room and we saw each other before leaving for the Euros. Then we spoke again in recent days too, it was so exciting."

Bouncebackability, former Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie used to call it.

That's twice now at this tournament alone Italy have come from behind to avoid defeat, after beating Albania 2-1 after conceding the quickest European Championship goal of all time.

Italy had only come from behind to avoid defeat in a Euros group stage match twice before - a 2-1 win against Bulgaria in 2004 and a 1-1 draw against Romania in 2008.

They've done it twice in three matches in Germany.

Croatia outperformed Italy for expected goals (xG) and shots on target, but Italy's goal at the end is the key figure.

Thanks to Duncan Alexander for the graphic.

Italy boss Luciano Spalletti, speaking to RAI, said: "When games are decided like this, in the end everything becomes more exciting. No one believed it any more, but the players risked little and kept their heads clear.

"We have to congratulate them on how they reacted. In the first half we were sub-par. If we do so little, we accomplish little. A behaviour where you think about the result without believing you can win it. I expect more from my players. You have to find that balance.

"We have players who have the quality to play these games. But we make mistakes that are too trivial. We have superior qualities than what we have seen. We need to do more."

Italy defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo, speaking to Italian TV channel RAI after the match, said: "It was a tough game, but the important thing was to get through the group, a difficult group. But we're happy, it's nice to draw and go through at the last minute.

"Maybe against Spain we gave this sense of fragility that a great team like ours shouldn't have. We definitely need to grow, even if in these tournaments the time to do so is not enough.

"Certainly in terms of play we can do better, but in terms of attitude we can't say anything. It's a point from which we have to start again."

Modric's team-mate Luka Ivanusec said: “I'm empty, we don't know what to say.

“Until the last minute, we have everything and now I have no words. We are disappointed.”

Defender Marin Pongracic added: “Very sad. The desire was there. We gave them chances, it could have gone the other way.

“After half-time, we got up, took more risks, scored a goal and then, in the end, we concede a goal very cheaply.”

Croatia's Luka Modric, speaking after the match, said: "I don't know what to tell you, football is sometimes cruel.

"It has been shown again, but well, what is there is there. We didn't deserve this goal.

"We didn't doubt the fans, we knew they were always with us, thank you. We're sorry that it wasn't that victory to go to the next round."

With tonight's goal, as well as becoming the tournament's oldest goalscorer in history, Luka Modric is now just the second player to score at four different European Championship tournaments, along with former Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, currently on five, could make that six if he scores at this tournament.