ATHENS (Reuters) - Croatia clinched a place in next year’s World Cup finals on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.
Having done the hard work four days ago by triumphing in the first leg in Zagreb, Zlatko Dalic’s team finished the job comfortably against a much-improved Greek team, who were full of attacking intent and tenacious tackling.
Despite the home side’s brave efforts, however, it was Croatia who came closest to scoring with Ivan Perisic hitting the post in the first half.
The visitors held on to qualify with ease for the showpiece in Russia.
Reporting by Graham Wood; Editing by Christian Radnedge