Croatia 2-1 Spain

Croatia [2]- Spain [1]

Morata (7')

Kalinic (45')

Perisic (87')


Spain will play Italy in the last 16 of Euro 2016 after a late Croatia winner condemned them to second in Group D.


Spain took the lead when Cesc Fabregas dinked the ball over keeper Danijel Subasic and Alvaro Morata tapped in.

An Ivan Rakitic lob hit the woodwork for Croatia, who equalised when Nikola Kalinic turned in Ivan Perisic's cross.

Subasic saved a Sergio Ramos penalty and Perisic's late winner gave Croatia, who finished top of the group, a tie against a third-placed qualifier.

Perisic lashed in an 87th-minute shot in a thrilling match to inflict Spain's first defeat in 15 games at the European Championship since losing to Portugal in Euro 2004.

Croatia will now play on Saturday in Lens, while Spain's mouth-watering tie against Italy - a repeat of the 2012 final - will take place on Monday in Paris.

This was an eagerly anticipated game because of the quality at Croatia's disposal and the type of test they were expected to give the reigning champions.

From that point of view, Croatia pressed and pushed further up than Spain's previous opponents - Turkey and the Czech Republic - and, despite going behind, caused plenty of moments of uncertainty at the back for Vicente del Bosque's side.

Spain centre-back Ramos gave the ball away early on and Perisic had a shot palmed away by keeper David de Gea.

De Gea was then dispossessed by Kalinic and the ball fell to Rakitic, whose chip hit the crossbar and the post before bouncing the wrong side of the post for Croatia.

Spain again dominated possession but their resistance was finally broken when they conceded their first goal in 735 minutes at the Euros as Kalinic stole in front of Ramos to turn in Perisic's left-wing cross.

A weak punch from De Gea led to him having to save Tin Jedvaj's shot before Marko Pjaca sent an overhead kick wide.

Spain's keeper and their defence looked vulnerable when exposed before they were caught out on the counter-attack, with Perisic's strike beating De Gea at his near post.

Man off the Match - Ivan Perisic