On Tuesday night, knockout stage-hopefuls Iceland tried their luck against Group D leaders Croatia. Unfortunately for Heimir Hallgrímssons side, a Gylfi Sigurðsson penalty wasnt enough to secure a victory for the smallest country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Croatias Ivan Perišić and Milan Badelj scored a goal each to cap off a perfect group stage, guaranteeing the top seed and condemning Iceland to an early exit.
Differing Motivations
Iceland came into the match needing a victory and an Argentina win or draw against Nigeria. Knowing this didnt change Icelands game plan, though, as the side kept their conservatively-oriented 4-4-2 defensive formation. In attack, this often turned into a 4-2-4 with wingers Guðmundsson and Bjarnason moving high up to pin back Croatias full-backs. In the end, most of Icelands chances came from long balls and defensive traps.
Croatian manager Zlatko Dalić used an almost completely rotated squad as his side were already guaranteed a Round of 16 birth. At worst, the Croatians would finish in second, but a spot atop the group never seemed in doubt throughout the 90 minutes of both this and the other group match. As seen above, only Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić retained their place in the starting eleven from the Argentina fixture. Impact players like Mateo Kovačić and Andrej Kramarić got a chance to stretch their legs on the pitch while Duje Ćaleta-Car and Marko Pjaca gave us a glimpse into Croatian footballs future.
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