England vs Croatia player ratings: Harry Kane and Kyle Walker struggle as World Cup semi-final ends in heart-break

Croatia 2-1 England (AET): Man-for-man marking from the World Cup semi-final

Jack de Menezes
Wednesday 11 July 2018 16:34 EDT
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England fans sing after losing in World Cup semi-final to Croatia

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Englandl suffered a heart-breaking extra-time defeat against Croatia to miss out on the World Cup final by the slimmest of margins.

Gareth Southgate's side dared to dream after just five minutes when Kieran Trippier put them ahead with a lovely free-kick from close range, following a Luka Modric foul on Dele Alli.

But that was very much the peak for England as their attack faded and Croatia grew into the contest.

Having maintained the lead at half-time, English hearts dropped when Ivan Perisic equalised in the 68th minute, getting his boot onto Sime Vrsaljko's pin-point cross to volley past Jordan Pickford.

England were very much holding on by the closing stages of the 90 minutes, and despite the match going to extra-time, the inevitable happened.

Perisic's dogged header caught John Stones napping, and his momentary hesitation allowed Mario Mandzukic in behind to fire the ball past Pickford and send Croatia into the World Cup final to face France - condemning England to the dreaded third-place play-off in the process.

Click on the gallery above to see how the players performed.

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