After scoring one of the goals of the tournament and upstaging Lionel Messi by leading his team to the top of their group, Croatia captain Luka Modric hopes to fulfil a dream that began when he watched his nation record a best ever World Cup showing.
They can now dream of going one better than their third-place finish in 1998, which marked their first participation in the World Cup finals as an independent nation.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
A stellar cast keeps you riveted to this sequel to Wall Street.
Chile defender Gonzalo Jara's ban for provoking Edinson Cavani has been cut from three games to two, the governing body of South American football has said.
Croatia had shown glimpses of their potential at the last European Championships in France two years ago when they beat Spain but went out in the second round to eventual winners Portugal after conceding in extra time.
Croatia's euphoric media ran out of superlatives as they hailed the Balkan nation's stunning World Cup win over Argentina which propelled them into the competition's knockout stages for the first time since the 1998 tournament when they finished third.
Jorge Sampaoli took the blame for Thursday's shambolic 3-0 World Cup defeat by Croatia as he tried to deflect the criticism from a terrible goalkeeping mistake and a poor performance by his captain Lionel Messi.
'We know it is going to be very difficult to play against them, and that is why we need to trust in our assets and play the perfect game'
Valverde said he was concerned about the team's away form after they were comprehensively beaten 2-0 by promoted Granada
Fifth seed Andy Murray, sixth-seeded David Ferrer and defending champion Ivan Ljubicic all fell by the wayside on a day of startling upsets at the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Saturday.
Barcelona's fourth defeat of the season left them seventh in the standings on 14 points after 10 games, 12 points behind leaders Atletico.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has decided to rest Lionel Messi, Neymar and most of his regulars for the King's Cup last 16, second leg match at Elche later on Thursday.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as his side thrashed arch-rivals Real Madrid 5-1 on Sunday in a highly entertaining 'Clasico' which surely will signal the end of hapless coach Julen Lopetegui's spell in charge of Real.
Swede Robin Soderling is one win away from retaining his World Indoor tournament title after beating Victor Troicki 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Liverpool thrashed Atalanta 5-0, Real Madrid boosted their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages with a 3-2 home victory over Inter Milan and Bayern Munich came from behind to crush RB Salzburg 6-2.
List of US Open men's singles champions since the Open Era began in 1968:
Inter Milan clinched fourth place in Serie A after a 2-1 home victory over Empoli on Saturday while AC Milan gave their European aspirations a boost with a 1-0 triumph over 10-man Bologna.
Uruguay's FA will raise a formal complaint against Chilean defender Gonzalo Jara for provoking striker Edinson Cavani by sticking his finger up his backside during the hosts' 1-0 Copa America quarter-final win.
Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic scored with almost the last kick of the game to snatch a 2-2 draw against AC Milan in Serie A under new coach Stefano Pioli after their neighbours twice led through Suso in Sunday's derby. Perisic turned the ball in at the far post to spare the blushes of his captain Mauro Icardi who had missed two simple chances which could have changed the course of the game. Antonio Candreva also scored a spectacular goal for Inter who made an encouraging start after Pioli was appointed last week with Frank de Boer having been fired after 85 days.
Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho's appeal against a three-match Serie A touchline ban for a controversial handcuffs gesture has been rejected, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Friday. Outspoken Mourinho made the gesture during last weekend's home clash against Sampdoria, which the league leaders drew 0-0 despite having defenders Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba sent off in the first half.
David Villa struck just after halftime to lift champions Barcelona to a laboured 1-0 home win over his former club Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Wednesday.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Nihal Sarin closes in on final Grandmaster norm
He possessed an IQ of 180, higher than Albert Einstein's, but his life and career took unexpectedly bizarre routes. Dhruv Munjal salutes the strange genius of Bobby Fischer.
Roger Federer sent a timely reminder to Rafael Nadal on Sunday, out-gunning the World No 1 to win the ATP World Tour Finals with an irresistible display of attacking tennis.
Champions Barcelona suffered their second defeat in three matches in La Liga on Saturday, with Michael Krohn-Dehli scoring and setting up another goal in a 2-1 victory for Sevilla.
"It has been an amazing year. One year ago, for sure I never dreamed about being World No. 1 again at the end of the season. It's something that means a lot to me. But the season is not over."
Khalfan Fahad fired into the far post from in front of an open goal in an inexplicable miss on Monday that cost defending champion Qatar a spot in the Asian Games football quarter-finals.
Barcelona made a brisk start to the season with new coach Luis Enrique at the helm in place of Gerardo Martino and a host of additions to the squad, including midfielder Ivan Rakitic and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
La Liga champions Barcelona fell to their first opening day defeat of the season in 11 years when they were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao thanks to a sensational late overhead kick from veteran striker Aritz Aduriz.
Many other Indians are heading the businesses at companies abroad.
Images from the Nations League matches.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki began life at the top with an injury scare on Friday, while Ivan Ljubicic completed a cull of seeds when he beat Andy Murray on yet another smoggy day at the China Open.
With a population of just over four million, Croatia punched considerably above their weight to reach the final, going down gallantly to France at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
Croatia edged closer to next year's World Cup with an emphatic 4-1 home win over Greece on Thursday in the first leg of their two-legged playoff.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi suffered a rare defeat together as they made a shock first-round exit from Thailand Open, the only ATP tournament they played together ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Croatia have no major injury concerns going into Sunday's World Cup final despite having played three 120-minute matches
Croatia will need their big-game players to step up.
Indian challenge ended at the ATP Paris Masters when Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Edourad Roger-Vasselin lost their quarter-final against Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.
