Croatia beat already-qualified Ghana to reach World Cup round of 32 | OneFootball

Ollie Whitmore, Chief football news reporter

Croatia booked their place in the last 32 of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over already-qualified Ghana to finish second behind Group L winners England.

A brilliant low drive from distance by Petar Sucic opened the scoring not long after Nikola Vlasic struck the outside of the post with a quarter of an hour gone, starting far livelier than they did against Panama on Wednesday.

Ghana threatened with the equalizer ever since Sucic’s goal and got it through Derrick Lukassen’s tidy finish from a free kick, but a set piece was ultimately their down fall as a free header from Vlasic found its way in eight minutes from time.

Sucic was simply given too much room to weigh up the power behind his excellent finish into the bottom left corner from 25 yards that left goalkeeper Benjamin Asare with no chance of keeping it out.

The Black Stars responded soon after with Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo firing across goal and not far wide of the post on the end of a tricky run into the box after turning quickly inside the right channel.

Just as Ghana might have began feeling out of luck, Luckassen managed to beat the Croatian offside trap and caress Ernest Nuamah’s perfectly weighted free kick past a rooted Dominik Livaković.

Luckassen had turned back around to see the flag raised on the far side signalling an offside, but a combination of VAR and semi-automated offside promptly confirmed the goal with 15 minutes left to play.

Croatia were not to be denied a spot in the round of 32, however, as Vlasic got his goal with a powerful header to connect with the corner swung in from the right by legendary 40-year-old midfielder Luka Modrić in the 82nd minute.

The result sets up a clash in the first knockout stage between Croatia and the second-placed team in Group K, which looks most likely to be the winner of Colombia vs Portugal in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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