Scotland’s shot at reaching the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time were ended in a 3-1 defeat to a Luka Modric-inspired Croatia at Hampden Park on Tuesday that took the World Cup runners-up into the last 16 of Euro 2020.
After ending a 23-year wait just to qualify for a major tournament, another historic feat was beyond Steve Clarke’s men who were undone by a moment of magic from Modric.
Callum McGregor cancelled out Nikola Vlasic’s early opener to give the hosts hope heading into half-time.
But Modric showed the class that made him the man to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s grip on the Ballon d’Or in 2018, a stunning strike with the outside of his foot just after the hour mark restoring Croatia’s lead.
“No one is sure how Luka manages that,” Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic said of the 35-year-old.
“We expect that Luka will go down, lose his strength, but he is the force that pulls the whole team. Anything I would say about Luka would not be sufficient. I’m very proud to have such a player as part of our team.”
Ivan Perisic’s header rubbed salt into Scottish wounds 13 minutes from time as Croatia pipped the Czech Republic to second place in Group D behind England.
Zlatko Dalic’s side will face the runner-up from Group E, featuring Spain, Sweden, Slovakia and Poland, in Copenhagen next Monday.
Scotland’s preparation had been blighted by the loss of Billy Gilmour to a positive test for coronavirus after the 20-year-old midfielder had shone on his first International start in 0-0 draw against England on Friday.
But Clarke’s squad escaped without any other players being forced to isolate as close contacts and, roared on by 12,000 fans inside Hampden, started on the front foot.
Che Adams was inches away from connecting with John McGinn’s dangerous cross that Dominik Livakovic did well to turn behind for a corner.
Croatia had barely threatened before they went in front on 17 minutes.
Perisic headed down a lofted ball into the box and Vlasic found space between three Scotland defenders to fire low into the corner.
Croatia then had the hosts chasing shadows for 10 minutes as the midfield maestros of Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic took control of the game.
“Modric was incredible,” said Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney. “I think tonight was a big learning curve for us all. They’ve been there before, the quality they showed it was hard for us to get going.”