Croatia are spot on again to set up World Cup semi-final against England

Russia’s World Cup dream is over after losing in the penalty shoot-out

Croatia Russia World Cup
Croatia players celebrate their penalty shoot-out win against Russia in Sochi
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Russia 2 Croatia 2 (Croatia win 4-3 on penalties)

Croatia will play England in the World Cup semi-finals after beating host nation Russia on penalties.

The match finished 2-2 after extra time and it was Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic who scored the winning spot-kick.

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Russia led through Denis Cheryshev’s long-range finish but Croatia levelled thanks to Andrej Kramaric. The game went to extra time and Domagoj Vida put Croatia ahead but they were pegged back when Mario Fernandes headed an equaliser after 115 minutes.

This meant the teams faced penalties for the second time in a few days after they both won on spot-kicks in the last-16.

Croatia keeper Danijel Subasic saved from Fedor Smolov and Mario Fernandes hit wide for the hosts while Mateo Kovacic’s penalty was saved low by Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev.

It was then up to Rakitic and he stepped up to send Croatia into the last four. They face England on Wednesday 11 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

How Twitter reacted to Croatia’s shoot-out win:

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