On June 23, at the World Cup in Brazil, the group stage in groups A and B ended. In the first quartet of the championship, one of the important and final matches was the game between the national teams of Mexico and Croatia. In the personal confrontation between these teams, the fate of a ticket to the playoff stage was decided.
The first half came with an advantage of the Croats. They had more possession of the ball and tried to attack quickly, but the Europeans did not manage to create really sharp moments. Most often, the Croats disturbed the opponent's defense with long-range strikes.
The Central American representatives opted for a counter-attack tactic. This is no coincidence, because a draw would have been enough for the Mexicans to leave the group. With such breakdowns, Mexico could be attributed to the favorites of the match. It was the players of this team in the first half that created the two most dangerous moments at the Croatian gates. First, after a long-range strike from the goalkeeper, the goalpost saved the Europeans, and then Peralta received a wonderful pass from the depths, went to a rendezvous with Pletikosa, but slipped and could not hit the gate. The first half ended in a goalless draw.
The second half of the meeting followed a slightly different scenario. The Croats in the attacking actions turned out even less, and the Mexicans seemed to have added. At first, the referee took pity on Croatia when he did not award a penalty for playing with a hand in the Croatian penalty area. But then justice prevailed. On 72 minutes after a corner, Rafael Marquez hits the goal with his head. The joy of the Mexicans was so strong that their head coach, along with the players, fell into his arms on the field.
After that, the Croats fell apart completely. They missed twice more. Andres Guardado in the 75th minute and Javier Hernandez in the 82nd minute scored a devastating score. Now no one doubted that the Mexicans were leaving the group. The Croats managed to win back one goal at the end of the match, but that was little consolation. Ivan Perisic scored the only goal against the Mexicans in the 87th minute.
The final score of the game 3 - 1 in favor of Mexico allows the winners to score 7 points in Group A. At the same time, they are compared with Brazil, but are inferior to the hosts of the championship solely by the difference between goals scored and conceded. Brazil comes first and Mexico comes second. Now the Mexican team will meet the Netherlands national team in the 1/8 finals.
