At 3 a.m. Beijing time on June 25, the two matches of the final round of Group B of the group stage of the 2024 European Championship in Germany kicked off at the same time, and at the Leipzig Arena, the defending champion Italy faced Croatia. In the first half, Bastoni's close-range header was saved by Livakovic; In the second half, Luka Modric's penalty was saved by Donnarumma, and then Croatia organized another attack, Modric scored in front of goal, and in the 98th minute, substitute Zaccagni scored the equaliser in the last minute of stoppage time. In the end, Italy drew 1-1 with Croatia, accumulated four points from three games to qualify for the second place in the group, and will face Switzerland in the round of 16 stage, Croatia only scored 2 points, ranked third in the group, and theoretically retained the hope of advancing to the round of 16.
As the defending champions, Italy are ranked 10th in the world, while Croatia are one place above the Azzurri at 9th in the world. In the first two rounds of the group stage, Italy first defeated Albania 2-1 and then lost 0-1 to Spain; Croatia lost 3-0 to Spain before being held to a 2-2 draw by Albania. In this game, both sides adjusted their starting lineups compared to the previous round.
In the fifth minute, Susic was threatening with a long-range shot from front of the penalty area, and Donnarumma saved the ball from the bottom line. In the 11th minute, Dimarco crossed from the left side of the field, and Pellegrini nodded the ball in front of the penalty area, but the ball went wide of the post. In the 13th minute, Kramaric crossed the right side of the field and slanted the middle, and Darmian made a sliding tackle to clear the ball. In the 21st minute, Dimarco crossed from the left side of the field, and Retegui headed wide under the opponent's close defense.
In the 24th minute, Susic tripped Pellegrini, who was dribbling the ball, and received a yellow card. In the 26th minute, Italy made a steal in front of the opponent, Pellegrini sent a through ball, and Retegui's shot from the left side of the penalty area was blocked by the opponent. Then Italy took a corner kick from the left, Barella picked up a cross in front of the penalty area, and the unguarded Bastoni headed the ball from close range, and the ball was miraculously saved by Livakovic!
In the 31st minute, Croatia made a series of passes in front, Modric's cross from the right side of the penalty area was saved by Donnarumma, and then the Croatian player's fallen tackle was missed. In the 36th minute, Manuel Pellegrini burst into the box and Livakovic saved the ball. At the end of the first half, Italy drew 0-0 with Croatia.
In the second half, Italy replaced Manuel Pellegrini with Frattesi and Croatia replaced Pashalic with Budimir. In the 51st minute, Kramaric's shot from the left side of the box hit the raised arm of Frattesi, who had just come on, and the referee awarded Croatia a penalty after watching VAR. The penalty was taken by Luka Modric, who fired a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net, which Donnarumma judged correctly to save. Croatia then won possession of the ball and crossed into the box from the right side of the field, Budimir's cushion shot was saved by Donnarumma, and Luka Modric scored from the post to give Croatia a 1-0 lead over Italy.
Modric, who had completed the redemption, was so excited that he rushed to the sidelines and fell to the ground with his hands in his hands. At 38 years and 289 days, Modric became the oldest player to score in European Championship history and Croatia's all-time top scorer, his fourth goal in four European Championships, 16 years after his own European Championship opener. After falling behind, Spalletti stepped up the attack by replacing Dimarco with Chiesa. In the 60th minute, Modric tackled Frattesi and received a yellow card.
In the 70th minute, Perisic came on to replace Susic, while Kovacic was also replaced. In the 75th minute, Spalletti replaced Raspadori with Scamacca and adopted a two-center striker tactic. In the 79th minute, Brozovic crossed from the right side of the field, and Budimir's header in the middle was deflected. Croatia then brought on Majer for goal-scorer Luka Modric. In the 81st minute, Italy removed Jorginho and Darmian and replaced them with Zaccagni and Fagioli.
In the 87th minute, Chiesa crossed from the right side of the penalty area, and neither Scamacca nor Retegui in front of the box touched the ball and missed a great opportunity. With eight minutes of stoppage time on the horizon, Italy pressed hard and Croatia looked for an opportunity to counter-attack. In the 96th minute, Fagioli received a yellow card for a defensive foul. In the 98th minute, Calafioli dribbled forward and split the ball on the left side in front of the penalty area, and substitute Zaccagni scored in the far corner to give Italy a 1-1 draw with Croatia.
In the end, the match ended at full-time with Italy drawing 1-1 with Croatia.