Italy entered the match against Croatia as favorites. The Italians needed just a draw to move onto the Knockout Round as the second-place finisher in Group B. Croatia outplayed Italy for 90-plus minutes, but in the 98th minute, it was Italy that had the final punch.

Italy kicked off the tournament with a 2-1 win over Albania thanks to goals from Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella. However, Italy then was shut out by Spain — the eventual winner of Group B — 1-0 due to an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori.

However, Italy remained on attack for the majority of the final half of the game. They concluded the match with 14 shots to Croatia's seven and an incredible 11 corner kicks to Croatia's two.

Croatia won the possession battle 51 percent to 49 percent while dominating the physicality in this game, earning six yellow cards and committing 18 fouls to Italy's two yellow cards and five tackles.

However, in the end, it was the 1-1 draw that sent Italy back to the Knockout Round, and ended Croatia's 2024 Euros in disappointing fashion.

After failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup following a surprising 1-0 loss to North Macedonia leading up to the event, Italy avoided another big disappointment by getting past Croatia and advancing to the Round of 16.

Italy joins join Spain, Germany, and Switzerland as the teams to qualify for the Knockout Round thus far in the tournament.