World Cup: Modrić blasts British journalists after Croatia's win
Croatia beat England 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday night and will play France in Sunday’s World Cup final in Moscow.
But England fans have been calling on Croatia to be disqualified after a controversial semi-final.
England fans were left heartbroken after Mario Mandzukic’s extra time goal ended final dreams.
Kieran Trippier had given England the perfect start with a fifth minute free kick but Ivan Perisic levelled things up in the second half before Mandzukic’s winner.
But England fans are not taking it well and want Croatia kicked out.
Croatia disqualified from the World Cup? Why England will not get redemption (Image: REUTERS)
World Cup: Pundits react to England being defeated by Croatia
Why are Croatia facing disqualification calls?
There was confusion over Ante Rebic picking up two bookings.
The Croatia forward was booked in the 48th minute and TV cameras appeared to show Cuneyt Cakir give him another yellow in extra time.
“What the f**k? Rebic has been booked twice? Am I f**king missing something here?!” one fan tweeted.
Another posted: “I could have sworn Rebic got booked twice last night.”
Another said: “I KNEW REBIC GOT BOOKED TWICE I WANT A REMATCH RIGHT NOW!!!!!”
However it was in fact Mandzukic who was given the latter booking.
Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Croatia disqualified: Ante Rebic was booked but fans thought he picked up two yellow cards (Image: GETTY)
Croatia disqualified: Mario Mandzukic picked up the second booking in extra time (Image: GETTY)
An eagle-eyed observer said: “Good to see the ITV duo completely miss the replays showing that Rebic wasn't booked and instead the card was given to Mandzukic. Jesus man.”
Another issues comes in the form of Domagoj Vida.
The defender faced calls to be banned after leaked video footage showed him saying ‘Glory to Ukraine’ after the penalty shootout victory over Russia.
But FIFA cleared the defender to play leaving the decision up to the Croatian authorities, who could still ban him following the World Cup.
Fans were also angered by Cakir’s general running of the game and believed Croatian players should have been booked earlier.
Croatia disqualified: Dejan Lovren went in hard on Raheem Sterling (Image: EPA)
Dean Lovren escaped any punishment at all despite wild challenges on Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.
Both Sterling and Kane were targeted as England’s main threats and fan thought they were given a rough ride.
There were also claims the equalising goal from Perisic should not have counted due to his raised boot.
However FIFA cannot replay a game due to poor decisions or even, so the result stands regardless.
VAR has helped officials for the first time at a World Cup and the standard has generally been high through the tournament.
What the players said
Luka Modric has revealed Croatia were motivated by the English media.
“People were talking … English journalists, pundits from television,” he told ITV. “They underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying: ‘OK, today we will see who will be tired.’ They should be more humble and respect their opponents more.
“We showed again that we were not tired – we dominated the game mentally and physically.
“We should have killed the game even before extra time. This is an amazing achievement for us – it’s a dream come true after such a long time. We are in the final and that is the biggest success in Croatia history. We have to be proud.”
Gareth Southgate was proud of his players.
He said: "At the moment we all feel the pain of defeat. I don't think realistically we expected to be here, but once you're here and played as well as we did, you want to take those opportunities in life. The dressing room is a difficult place at the moment.
"I'm remarkably proud of the group of players - the reaction of the supporters compared to two years ago shows the country are proud of the way we played. There will in time be lots of positives to take but it's too hard and too soon to put that in context.
"You have to suffer the result first sometimes. I'm hugely proud of what we've done - I couldn't have asked for any more. They've broken through a number of barriers in the past weeks."