Sucic and Croatia bow out of the World Cup

Petar Sučić's FIFA World Cup campaign came to an end in the Round of 32 as Croatia suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Portugal at Toronto's BMO Field. The Portuguese progress to the Round of 16, where they will face Spain.

After a goalless first half, the match burst into life following the restart, with both sides committing numbers forward and creating a succession of chances in an open, entertaining contest. Croatia took the lead in the 53rd minute through Ivan Perišić, who scored his seventh World Cup goal after controlling Stanišić's cross before firing beyond Diogo Costa. Portugal responded with Leão striking the crossbar and Cristiano Ronaldo seeing a goal ruled out before the Portuguese captain levelled the scores from the penalty spot. It was Ronaldo's first-ever goal in the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup. Croatia continued to threaten, with Kovačić hitting the post before Sučić had a goal disallowed for offside in the 80th minute. Deep into stoppage time, however, Portugal completed the turnaround. Leão delivered a cross from the left and Gonçalo Ramos headed home in the 94th minute to make it 2-1, before Gvardiol had a dramatic late equaliser ruled out in the 105th minute after Pašalić was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.

It brings Sučić's first FIFA World Cup to a close. The midfielder featured in all four of Croatia's matches, playing a total of 288 minutes, bagging one goal and one assist.