Petar Sucic put Croatia ahead in the thirty first minute, Nikola Vlasic doubled it late, and Derrick Luckassen's seventy third minute goal set up a tense finish that Croatia managed without panic. A 2-1 win gave Croatia second place in Group L behind England.

The twist is that Ghana, despite the loss, still advanced as one of the best third placed sides, so this defeat came with a parachute. Both nations move on, which takes some of the sting out of a hard fought ninety minutes.

Croatia continue to be the tournament's reliable old hands, finding a way without flair, and Ghana showed enough fight to suggest they will be no easy out in the knockouts. A clean, competitive match with a rare happy ending for both benches.