They are through to the semi-finals!

Yet another World Cup classic was served up in Croatia’s quarter-finals encounter with Russia on Saturday. The dream campaign of the host nation finally came to an end in a thrilling game hosted at the Fisht Olympic Stadium.

First, it was Denis Cheryshev who broke the deadlock for Russia with a stunning long-range effort in the 31st minute but Andrej Kramaric got the equalizer just eight minutes later. With the game subsequently being forced into extra-time, Domagoj Vida’s headed goal from a corner-kick which placed the Croatians right on course to glory in the 101st minute was canceled out by Mario Fernandes’ 115th-minute header.

Zlatko Dalić’s men, however, sealed their fate by clinching a 4-2 victory from the penalty shoot-outs with Ivan Rakitic scoring the winner. They as a result became just the second side in the World Cup’s history to progress on a penalty shootout in successive knockout games. Argentina did it first at Mexico 1990 by beating Yugoslavia and Italy.

Croatia will take on England in the semi-final on July 11 before they meet either France or Belgium in the final should they progress to the final.