Croatia took a firm grip on Group B after a 2-1 win over much-fancied Germany left them strong favourites to qualify for the knock-out stages.
Goals from slot midway through each half secured a second successive group win for Slaven Bilic’s side, who are all but assured of their place in the quarter-finals ahead of the final round of group fixtures.
Meanwhile, pre-tournament favourites Germany must now beat Austria in their final game to ensure their own qualification to the last eight.
Germany had been expected to follow up their opening 3-0 win over Poland with another dominant performance and coach Joachim Low named an unchanged side.
But Croatia appeared to be reading from a different script as they looked the more dangerous of the two teams throughout after Bilic opted to promote Ivan Rakitic off the bench in a more attack-minded formation.
They took the lead following a …