Spain vs Croatia highlights, ESP 3-0 CRO, Euro 2024: La Roja open campaign with a comfortable win

Spain opens its Euro 2024 campaign in style with a 3-0 win against Croatia. Dani Carvajal, Fabian Ruiz and Alvaro Morata got on the scoresheet. 

A cross comes in from the right flank, which is met by a Perisic header. However, the veteran forward cannot keep his effort on target. 

Five minutes added at the end of the second-half!

Ferran Torres sees space ahead of him and makes a run at goal. He looks to get past his marker and get the cross in but it is blocked and Spain will get a corner. 

Spain subs: IN- Ferran, Zubimendi OUT- Yamal, Rodri 

Wait, there is more drama - Croatia’s goal has been overruled. The reason is that there was an infringement by the Croatian players inside the box while Petkovic took the penalty. VAR has a lengthy look and cancels the goal. Croatia’s night turns from bad to worse. 

Euro 2024: Why was Croatia’s penalty goal against Spain disallowed by the referee? Explained

Croatia’s penalty against Spain was disallowed despite the player converting from the spot because a Perisic ran into the box before the penalty was taken.

Petkovic’s initial penalty is saved by Simon but Perisic swoops in to square the rebound and the former taps it home in his second attempt. 

VAR looked to see whether Rodri’s foul is worthy enough for him to see a red card but in the end, stays with the decision of the onfield referee. 

PENALTY TO CROATIA - Simon is casual in clearing the ball and Majer pressures him into winning the ball. He passes it to Perisic, who is chopped down by Rodri before he can take a shot. Referee Michael Oliver points to the spot immediately. 

Perisic whips in a cross from the left flank but it goes straight to Simon, who did well to communicate with his two centre-backs who were looking to clear. 

Croatia is edging Spain as far is possession is concerned, enjoying 52 per cent of the ball - something that we don’t get to see often. However, Spain will not worry one about that. 

Croatia sub: IN- Petkovic OUT- Kramaric 

Spain subs: IN- Oyarzabal, Merino OUT- Morata, Williams 

Croatia subs: IN- Sucic, Pasalic OUT- Kovacic, Modric 

Kovacic makes a driving run and passes the ball to Majer, who looks to get inside the Spain box and take a shot. Cucurella gets across quickly to make the tackle and thwart the attack. 

Spain sub: IN - Olmo OUT- Pedri

Croatia sub: IN -Perisic OUT- Budimir 

Big chance - Croatia with a big chance to pull a goal back. Croatia floods the Spain box witn an attacking move and the latter cannot get the ball away. Stanisic lashes at the loose ball but Cucurella is there to make a goal-saving block. The attack is still alive as Budimir tries to head the ball inside the net. But Simon is there to make a brilliant save. It is just not happening for the Croats today. 

Save - Yamal gets the ball inside the box and opens the face of his boot to take a shot at goal. He connects well with his effort but Livakovic gets down in lightning-fast speed to make the save. 

Carvajal looks to be in pain after Kramaric catches him. The foul goes Spain’s way but it is nothing serious and the player should be okay to continue. 

Spain leads Croatia 3-0 as the second-half kicks-off at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.

Goals from Dani Carvajal, Fabian Ruiz and Alvaro Morata keep Spain in a comfortable 3-0 lead against Croatia at the break. 

Spain might have killed the match before half-time itself. Yamal gets the ball on the right flank and looks to put a cross inside the box. He curls one in at the near post and Carvajal arrives to get a deft touch and put the ball inside the net. 

With this, Carvajal scores his first international goal for Spain and what a time and stage to do it in. 

Kovacic gets the ball near the Spain box. He had plenty of support inside but goes for a shot instead, which he fails to keep on target. 

Two minutes added at the end of the first-half!

Cucurella’s cross takes a deflection off Mayer and almost falls at the feet of Nico Williams but Livakovic does well to anticipate the danger and collect the ball by diving in front of Williams’ feet. 

Majer swings a cross at the far-post from the right flank, where Gvardiol is present. Gvardiol opts to pass it back across the face of the goal and manages to do so with a measured touch. Budimir made the run but fails to get the telling touch, which would surely have been a goal back for Croatia. 

Till the first goal went in, there was hardly any action and now with Spain leading 2-0, Croatia’s urgency is quite visible. There is still a long way to go and the match is still open. 

Croatia almost pulls a goal back - Brozovic takes a low shot from the edge of the box, which is palmed away by Simon. The rebound falls to Majer, who lashes at goal but hits the side-netting. 

That was all about Ruiz’s skill - He gets the ball inside the box, keeps his calm to dance past a couple of Croatians and then finds the far-post with a grounded finish. Spain is flying high in Berlin at the moment and Croatia has a mountain to climb. 

Rodri controls the ball with an excellent touch and has the vision to spot Morata’s run. He threads a pass between a couple of Croatia players to send Morata clear. The Spain captain, chased by two Croatia players, keeps his composure to carry the ball inside the box and pass the ball into the net. 

Nico Williams cuts in and delivers a cross at the back-post. Yamal is there and tries to bring down the ball but fails to control it, as it goes out of play for a Croatia goalkick. 

Stanisic swings a cross in from the right flank, which finds Budimir inside the box. Budimir gets a header away but cannot keep his effort on target. 

Sutalo threads a through ball for Budimir, who does well to time his run. He tries to get at the end of the pass, but Simon comes out to collect. 

The Croatia players finally look to have settled - right now, they are just passing the ball around, trying to find gaps in the Spanish defence. But this spell of possession was absent in the opening minutes.

Majer takes the freekick, looking to drive in a cross inside the box, but it is a poor delivery as it is dealt with easily by the Spanish defence. 

Cucurella barges into Majer and now Croatia has a chance to put something inside the box from the freekick. 

Pedri feeds Yamal on the right, who has space to make a run inside the Croatia box. He tries to get past his marker but ends up getting sandwiched between two defenders. 

Nico Willams takes the freekick - he tries to find a teammate with a lob inside the box but the delivery misses everyone as Livakovic sees the ball out of play. 

Sutalo catches Morata in a bid to win the ball and Spain has a freekick in a promising position. 

Morata has a go from just outside the Croatia penalty area. The shot is relatively weak and Livakovic collects comfortably. 

Lamal’s cross from the right is blocked. The ball reaches Pedri, who sends it to Ruiz at the edge of the box. Ruiz tries to return the favour instead of going for the shot but Pedri does not look ready. 

A ball is played over the top for Morata, who chases it but Livkovic had a good head start and comes off his line to collect the ball before the Spanish captain could reach it. 

There is a huge cheer from the Spain fans as Yamal gets his first touch. He is the youngest player ever to feature in the Euros in the competition’s history. 

The Euro 2024 Group B clash between Spain and Croatia is underway at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Spain and Croatia begin their Euro 2024 campaigns on Saturday with a rematch of last year’s nervy UEFA Nations League final as they kick off the action in Group B, which also includes European champions Italy and surprise package Albania.

With memories of a heartbreaking shootout defeat to Spain still fresh in their minds, captain Luka Modric’s perennial overachievers seem ready to again challenge the pre-tournament odds in their quest to finally win a major trophy. 

After reaching the 2018 World Cup final and making the semifinals four years later, having fought back to eliminate five-time champion Brazil on penalties at Qatar 2022, the Nations League final loss to Spain was a tough pill to swallow.

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When and where will the Spain vs Croatia Euro 2024 match kick-off?

The Spain vs Croatia Euro 2024 match will kick-off at 9:30 PM IST on Saturday, June 15, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. 

Where to watch the live telecast of the Spain vs Croatia Euro 2024 match in India?

The Spain vs Croatia Euro 2024 match will be live telecasted on the Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD in English, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD in Hindi, Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD in Tamil & Telugu and Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD in Bengali & Malayalam. 

Where can you live stream the Spain vs Croatia Euro 2024 match in India?

The match can be live-streamed on the SonyLIV app and website