Croatia suffered a surprise defeat to Türkiye after a late VAR call saw them denied a penalty firstly given to them by Anthony Taylor.

A quick attack for Croatia in the 10th minute saw Pasalic get a shot off, but it was blocked by the Türkiye defense. Croatia had their second corner in the 20th minute. A Modric-Kova exchange was Croatia’s best chance so far.

Croatia lost the ball in Türkiye’s half. A quick long ball found Barış Alper Yılmaz, who took advantage of Livakovic off his line to score for 0-1 Turkey in the 30th minute.

Mistake after mistake – this wasn’t the Croatia we were used to watching. No attack, no creativity, no chances. Giveaways and unable to connect passes. Croatia was lucky they weren’t losing by more than a goal.

One promising attack for Croatia came just before halftime, with Brekalo’s shot hitting the near post. But the game went into halftime with Türkiye ahead.

And it was almost 2-0 for Türkiye in the 53rd minute as Yilmaz shot just over the crossbar. Croatia continuously failed to close their opponents down.

A bit more calm and collected than in the first half, Croatia were connecting passes and looked a bit brighter. But still – the chances were few and far between. Sosa went on for Barisic and Beljo for Kovacic in the 80th minute.

Beljo had a chance in the 81st minute, which was saved by the Turkey keeper. And another Beljo shot hit near post in the 87th minute, which went out for a corner.

It looked like Croatia’s saving grace came in the 89th minute with a potential handball in the box. The ref immediately called for a penalty, then consulted VAR which decided otherwise. Five minutes of stoppage time were added but they could not break through.