Portugal dramatically beats Croatia with Croats' personal misfortune in the 15th minute of added time
In the 1/8 finals on Monday, Portugal will play Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo: Stephanie Scarbrough / AP
The first half was quite boring. Croatia withstood 15 minutes of Portuguese pressure, and then the game became even.
But from the start of the second half, the heat began: Croatia immediately started attacking, two or three attacks, and in the next, 37-year-old Ivan Perišić opened the scoring.
A few minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo equalized, but the linesman waved his flag — offside. It seemed CR was not offside (it looked that way from the replay).
And a few minutes later, during a corner kick, Vlašić fouled a Portuguese player in his penalty area.
The referee went to check VAR — penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo equalizes. This is his third goal in the tournament.
And in the 4th minute of added time, Gonçalo Ramos seemed to seal the deal — 2:1.
However, 20 minutes were added to the match, the Croats rushed to attack after the goal against them, and in the 15th minute of added time, Joško Gvardiol equalized. VAR again: it turns out Matanović touched the ball with his hand, the goal was disallowed. A tragedy for the Croats.
In the 1/8 finals, Portugal will play Spain.
Today at 6 AM, Switzerland vs. Algeria will be played, and in the evening at 10 PM — Australia vs. Egypt.
The 1/16 final matches will conclude overnight and Saturday morning: Argentina vs. Cape Verde (1 AM) and Colombia vs. Ghana (04:30).
And already on Saturday evening, the 1/8 final matches will begin with Morocco vs. Canada (kick-off at 8 PM).
Other known pairings:
- France vs. Paraguay (Sunday night, 00:00)
- Brazil vs. Norway (Sunday, 11 PM)
- Mexico vs. England (Monday, 3 AM)
- Spain vs. Portugal (Monday, 10 PM)
- USA vs. Belgium (Tuesday, 3 AM)