Croatia v Italy LIVE: Reaction as last-gasp Zaccagni goal sends Azzurri through to Euro 2024 knockouts

3 mins

Italy have indeed gone with the back three/back five, with the midfield consisting of Barella, Jorginho and Pellegrini. Raspadori and Retegui have the responsibility in attack.

Croatia still have the ball, but no chances to report yet, as both sides continue to try and get a feel for the game.

1 min

The ball is with Croatia in the opening stages, though they haven’t managed to mount an attack.

KICK-OFF! The captains shake hands, exchange pennants and speak to the officials as their respective sides line up. Luka Modric looks like he knows this could be his last game at a major international tournament.

Croatia get the first half started in Leipzig.

Both sides are out of the tunnel and the national anthems are underway in Leipzig.

Can the holders get the result they need? Will Croatia spring a surprise and maybe even knock Italy out?

We’ll find out soon enough.

Less than 10 minutes until kick-off in Leipzig.

Both sides have made changes in important positions, but whose changes will make more of a difference?

A reminder that Italy sit second in the group, on three points, while Croatia sit third, on just one point.

A win or a draw for Italy guarantees them second place in the group. A win for Croatia would make it almost certain that they qualify for the last 16. A draw will likely not be good enough for the World Cup semi-finalists.

Italy and Croatia have met nine times on the international stage, and the Azzurri have a poor record against the Balkan side.

They have only won one match, and that was a friendly all the way back in the 1940s.

The two sides met in 1994 and 1995 as part of the qualifying campaign for Euro ‘96, with Croatia winning the away game 2-1 before a 1-1 draw in Split. Future Euro ‘96 and World Cup ‘98 hero Davor Suker got all three goals for Croatia across those games.

The two sides have met at two major tournaments, with the first meeting coming at the 2002 World Cup, where Croatia ran out 2-1 winners in the group stages.

Italy had the chance to get their revenge in the group stages of Euro 2012, but that match ended 1-1 courtesy of goals from Andrea Pirlo and Mario Mandzukic.

Interestingly, this will be the fifth time that Croatia play the European Championship holders. They previously beat Denmark 3-0 in 1996, drew 2-2 with France in 2004, lost 1-0 against Spain in 2012, and then beat the Spaniards 2-1 in 2016.

While the favourites all appeared fallible coming into this European Championship, they have got off to strong starts across the board. Germany were most impressive of all and thumped Scotland in the tournament’s curtain-raiser in Munich to send out a signal that the hosts are a serious prospect, powered by the talent of Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz.

England, France, Spain, Netherlands and Italy were all among the first-round winners, while Slovakia earned a surprise – and controversial – win over Belgium and Romania thrashed Ukraine.

Below, we assess how every Euro 2024 nation stacks up after the first round of group games (this article will be updated after each round of matches).

A reminder of what eachGroup B team has done and needs to do.

Spain: After beating Italy 1-0, Spain are through as group winners. They will play one of the four best third-placed teams in Cologne on Sunday 30 June at 8pm.

Italy: The holders can safely reach the last-16 if they avoid defeat against Croatia, but will be in jeopardy if they lose to the World Cup semi-finalists. If Italy lose to Croatia and Albania beat Spain, who are already through as group winners, then the holders will be out.

Albania: Realistically, Albania must beat Spain to have any chance of going through and they will be out with a draw or defeat. They could go through as runners-up if they beat Spain and Italy lose to Croatia, providing Albania’s goal difference remains superior than Croatia’s.

Croatia: Luka Modric and co. must beat Italy and would climb above the Azzurri with a victory, while they can still finish second if they beat Italy and Albania fail to win. A draw is unlikely to be good enough, even if Albania lose to Spain, and a defeat definitely won’t be.

And here’s how Spain coach Luis de la Fuente reacted to that win.

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente is convinced his players are “the best in the world” after guiding them into the last 16 at Euro 2024 with a game to spare.

De La Fuente saw his side join hosts Germany in the knockout stage after a 1-0 victory over reigning champions Italy in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday evening before praising the men he has at his disposal.

Asked if it was the best performance over which he had presided at his post-match press conference, he said: “Yes, I do think it is the best Spain performance I’ve taken charge of. We played against Italy in the Nations League and we played well there, but I think this was a more compete performance tonight.

“I will never tire, as I mentioned yesterday, of really promoting Spanish football. I think we’re the best in the world in terms of interpreting various match situations, and of course that is really reinforced and strengthened when you win silverware.”