World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why England lost to Croatia

#1 Came second in extra-time to nearly everything

Croatia v England : Semi Final - 2018 FIFA World Cup — Luka Modric does not stop

These Croatians can run and run and run and... Man, they've played 90 minutes more than any other team. So effectively, they have played an extra football game altogether and yet look hungry for more.

Hear this, Croatia did not make a single substitution until extra-time despite playing 120 minutes each against Denmark and Russia. Zlatko Dalic used his substitutions cleverly and with players like Luka Modric who would rather barf his heart out onto the field than have his opponents run over it, Croatia were better prepared for the final half an hour than their opponents.

Though England also had the opportunity to make 3 subs late into the game, only one- Jamie Vardy's introduction- was a truly positive change and that came after England were already chasing the game, deep into the second half of extra time.

Pivaric who was brought on for Strinic played a good hand in keeping the ball away from the Englishmen. In truth, once the game went beyond normal time, England were playing in Croatia's yard and the Croats showed enough quality- thanks to their experience there or not- and came out on top.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Kishan Prasad