World Cup: With 3-0, ‘messiless’ Croatia mess up Argentina; France 1–0 Peru; Jedinak’s controversial penalty earns Australia draw against Denmark

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Classy Croatia handed Argentina a 3-0 drubbing to claim a place in the World Cup knockout stage on Thursday.
The Europeans stunned Argentina, thanks to goals by Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic in their Group D match in Novgorod.
Rebic seized on a gaffe by keeper Willy Caballero to open the way to victory for the Balkan side.
The goal was followed by a superb strike from outside the area by captain Modric 10 minutes from time with Rakitic putting the icing on the cake in added time.
Twice champions Argentina, with Lionel Messi in their ranks,  face a struggle to reach the last 16 even  after taking one point from their first two games.
Croatia top the group with six points and they have five goals in the bag.
Argentina’s woes began when Caballero picked up a backpass and inexplicably lobbed it towards Rebic, who twisted in the air to whack in a volley in the 53rd minute.
Said Modric at the end of it all: “In the end our victory looks easy but it wasn’t that easy. I think the win was fully deserved, but it wasn’t easy. That first goal, in the second half, followed a mistake. It was a shot in the arm for us – we played a perfect game and you need a perfect game to beat such a great team. We cut off Messi, stopped him receiving the ball, he’s their most dangerous player.”
“The most important objective has been realised. We’ve got to take it game by game, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This win will boost our confidence for the coming games. It’s going to be tough but let’s avoid euphoria, give it a wide berth and keep our feet firmly on the ground to prepare for the next matches,”added Modric, who was also the Budweiser Man of the Match.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe made history as France booked their place in the World Cup’s knockout rounds with an unconvincing 1-0 Group C defeat of Peru.
France were fortunate in their 2-1 opening win over Australia and they had slices of luck again at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Thursday.
Mbappe’s goal, which came from close-range after Olivier Giroud’s shot took a wicked deflection to beat goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, saw the 19-year-old become the youngest player to score for France at a major international tournament.
As they did in losing narrowly to Denmark, Peru had plenty of chances, returning captain Paolo Guerrero firing at Hugo Lloris and Pedro Aquino clipping the post with a super strike from range.
However, Peru were unable to find a way through and Ricardo Gareca’s side – who have yet to find the net in Russia – are certain to be knocked out.
Denmark look set to join France in the last 16 after their 1-1 draw with Australia, but they need a point against Les Bleus in their final outing to be certain of progressing.
Lloris was making his 100th France appearance and the goalkeeper was almost tested by an ambitious strike from Yoshimar Yotun, but the shot from the halfway line drifted wide.
Antoine Griezmann – who signed a new Atletico Madrid contract on Monday – had France’s first opportunity in the 11th minute but Euro 2016’s top scorer fired wide, while Paul Pogba also failed to work Peru goalkeeper Gallese.
Chances were flowing for France, Raphael Varane missing with a header before Gallese saved with his legs to deny Griezmann after Giroud found his strike partner with a headed pass.
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But France’s early intensity started to fade and Peru should have taken advantage, yet Guerrero shot straight at Lloris on the turn after Christian Cueva found him in the box.
That miss proved key as Mbappe’s historic World Cup moment gave France a 34th-minute lead.
Pogba slid Giroud into the area and when the striker’s shot looped over Gallese via a deflection off Christian Ramos, Mbappe could not miss from inside the six-yard box.
Gallese prevented Lucas Hernandez from doubling the France lead as Peru ended the first half on the ropes.
Peru coach Gareca sent on Anderson Santamaria and Jefferson Farfan at the break, while Samuel Umtiti shook off a dead leg, before Aquino clipped the outside of the post with a swerving drive from 25 yards.
Andre Carrillo fired over the crossbar and Farfan hit the side-netting as Peru grew increasingly desperate to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
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Substitute Ousmane Dembele – dropped for Giroud – could have wrapped up the points in the 82nd minute but rifled wide, as France appeared to have settled for a one-goal victory.
With Peru’s record scorer Guerrero wasting a late free-kick, Didier Deschamps’ squad safely held on to secure their place in the knockout stages.
In another match, Australia’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stage were hanging by a thread after they drew with Denmark in another match containing a controversial VAR decision.
This time, the decision went in Australia’s favour and Mile Jedinak converted a penalty to cancel out Christian Eriksen’s opening goal but the Socceroos could not capitalise on their dominance in the second half.
Australia’s fate is now out of their hands, with their progress hinging on the result of other games in Group C.
The opening goal originated from a magical reverse pass by Nicolai Jørgensen on seven minutes after an electric start by the Danes. The Feyenoord forward flicked the ball behind him and into the path of the bounding Eriksen inside the 18 yard box. The Spurs playmaker showed his class by burying a left-footed half volley beyond the stretching Mat Ryan.
Since taking over as Australia’s coach Bert van Marwijk has earned a reputation among journalists in the country for being surly and unwilling to give the merest hint about his game plan in press conferences. But it surely must have involved devising some plot to nullify the threat of Eriksen, the talisman who has been directly involved in 18 goals in his last 15 appearances for Denmark, scoring 13 and contributing five assists.
If there was a plan, it was not followed as Eriksen was given far too much time and space on the ball and punished the Socceroos with the sort of lethal finishing Australia have been woefully short of.
As they did against France in their opening game, Australia looked to do damage on the counterattack but lacked composure in front of goal.
But the rousing runs by Mathew Leckie down the channels caused a headache for the Denmark defence.
The athletic Leckie contributed to the Australian breakthrough on 38 minutes. He rose prominently on the penalty spot with Yussuf Poulsen barging in with a late challenge. The Dane did not have much time to address his flailing limbs and Leckie’s header struck his left forearm.
The Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz briefly left the field to consult the VAR monitor and decided to award a penalty. Australia were the wrong side of history in their first game against France as a penalty was awarded for the first time in a World Cup match since VAR was introduced. On that occasion, Josh Risdon was judged upon review to have illegally fouled Antoine Greizmann, much to the outrage of the Australian players. They may have felt they were due a lenient VAR decision and it was reported that Aussie fans in the stadium toilets burst into a spontaneous and ironic chant of “VAR, VAR, VAR!” at half-time.
Mile Jedinak stepped up to take the spot kick. He remained composed even when subjected to intense sledging by Denmark’s goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The heavily bearded Aston Villa midfielder sent Schmeichel the wrong way and fired low and hard into the right hand side of the net. That signified the end Schmeichel’s record run of nine hours and 31 minutes without conceding at international level. It also means that Australia’s last five goals in competitive games have come from Jedinak penalties.
That lack of alternative goal scoring channels was obvious in the second half as Australia failed to steal victory despite having the lion’s share of the ball.
The Danes, on and off the pitch, called for a penalty in the 50th minute as Poulsen went down in the box, muscled off the ball by a couple of players in dark green Australian shirts. Among other things, this World Cup is destined to be remembered for the advent of middle aged men in the stands doing TV gestures with their hands whenever there is the slightest contact in the box.
But they twice required Schmeichel to come to their rescue with two late, great saves. He first denied substitute Daniel Arzani, the youngest player in the tournament at 17, who looked dangerous after coming on, and seconds later he thwarted Leckie.

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