Scotland Euro 2020 hopes over as England finish as group winners
Scotland's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of an international tournament for the first time are over after a battling defeat to Croatia at Euro 2020.
The Scots, playing in their first major tournament since the 1998 France World Cup, needed a victory in their final Group D fixture to reach the last 16 but despite a big effort fell short again.
And Callum McGregor's goal to level the score at 1-1 briefly gave the home side belief in front of a raucous Hampden Park crowd, but a second half double by the 2018 World Cup finalists squashed any remaining chance of a Tartan comeback.
The result means they finish bottom of a group topped by England, who beat the Czech Republic 1-0 in a relatively routine win.
Manager Steve Clarke told ITV4: “I’m proud the players managed to get here, for the first time in 23 years.
“It was a team tournament hardened against a team in their first time in a tournament for a long time. We’ll learn from it for sure.
“Croatia are a top team and they showed that tonight. I think through the three games we’ve acquitted ourselves well and showed our qualities. And we can improve.
“It’s a young group of players and we want to improve together. We want to go again.”
The Scots had not lost to Croatia in their previous five meetings and were hoping to make their own football history.
Spurred on by a Hampden roar which sounded like it was powered by vastly more than just 10,000 fans, Scotland started at 100mph.
John McGinn sent a cross to the back post which Che Adams just failed to reach at full stretch. The striker then whipped another just past the post after collecting Dykes’ knockdown.
But the hosts hit the skids in the 17th minute as Ivan Perisic outleaped Stephen O’Donnell to knock down for Nikola Vlasic, who squeezed the ball past David Marshall to put Croatia 1-0 up.
Scotland rallied again but McGinn’s effort lacked the power needed to beat Dominik Livakovic.
However, three minutes before the break, the Tartan Army exploded as Andy Robertson’s cross for Adams was only half cleared and McGregor took full advantage as he drilled home his first international goal to make it 1-1.
Marshall had to be quick off his line to stop Josko Gvardiol firing Croatia back in front just after the break, while Hampden held its breath again as Stuart Armstrong hung up a ball to the back post – but McGinn could not convert.
The Tartan Army made their feelings clear when referee Fernando Rapallini gave the World Cup finalists a free-kick despite Gvardiol being the one who brought down McGinn.
Croatia took full advantage of the soft award, springing forward before Modric unleashed a sublime finish into the top corner with the outside of his right foot, deflating the Hampden buzz again by making it 2-1.
And Scotland’s faint hopes of reaching the last 16 were wiped out with 12 minutes left as Perisic darted across the front post to nod home from a Modric corner.
'The lads are shattered': Callum McGregor reacts to Scotland's defeat
England, meanwhile, had already qualified for the knockout stages and thanks to Raheem Sterling's early goal, they went through as group winners, meaning their next game will be at Wembley.
“Just devastated we’re not through,” midfielder McGinn told ITV4: “We didn’t get off to the best of starts and tonight we came up against an excellent team with tournament experience.
“They’ve got one of the best players in the world in Luka Modric.
“We’ve got to use this experience to get to more tournaments. The World Cup is our aim now. We want this to be the start.
“We’re not used to this but we need to become a nation who are used to this.”