Croatia finished June's Schedule in qualifying campaign perfectly, running out 5-1 winners against the Czech Republic. Zlatko Dalić’s team scored 12 goals in their opening two qualifiers.

They came into the game hoping to build on their emphatic 7-0 opening win, but were up against the team leading the group after three consecutive victories.

Just as it looked like the teams would go into the break goalless, Croatia opened the scoring. Gvardiol was involved once again, heading a looping ball into the danger area for Andrej Kramarić to nod home his third goal in two games.

After the restart, the Czechs started well again, and this time they made it count. Within 15 minutes of the restart, Ladislav Krejci headed a corner kick onto the back post and bundled the ball home to make it 1-1.

However, Modrić restored Croatia’s lead minutes later from the penalty spot after Ante Budimir was bundled over in the box. Having regained the lead, Croatia ramped up the pressure, forcing the Czech Republic into a mistake in their own half and allowing Ivan Perišić to slide the ball into the bottom corner.

With a two-goal lead, Dalic’s team then sealed the victory on 72 minutes when Budimir calmly rolled his penalty into the bottom left corner. Having netted seven last Friday, Croatia were clearly hungry for more goals, adding a fifth on 75 minutes when Kramarić was picked out in the box. He showed great composure to slide the ball past Kovář.

A second-half blitz saw the Vatreni move to within three points of the Czech Republic, who are top of the group, having played a game less. Nevertheless, three wins in four qualifiers keep the Czech Republic in contention to qualify for next year’s tournament.