The World Cup dream is over for Croatia after a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina ran out 3-0 winners in Qatar on Tuesday evening - although the journey isn't done just yet for Zlatko Dalic's men.
Having squeezed through the groups despite winning just one game in the 4-1 win over Canada, Croatia took on Japan in Al Wakrah; emerging as winners on penalties after some dreadful penalties by the Asian outfit. Advancing to a tie against Brazil, nobody gave them a chance - especially when Neymar scored deep into the first half of extra time.
However, Bruno Petkovic's late strike and heroics from Dominik Livakovic saw another potential deep run on the cards, though Messi and Julian Alvarez - the master and the apprentice - put an end to that.
