Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic struck his third goal of Euro 2012 to earn a 1-1 draw against Italy who let their opponents off the hook after taking the lead in the Group C match on Thursday.
The country of around 4 million people came to a standstill as Croatians watched the game on screens in squares and cafes.
Italy recovered from the shock of conceding the fastest goal ever scored at a European Championship to beat Albania 2-1 on Saturday as Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella ensured the defending champions made a winning start.
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.
India's Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti prevailed over a quality pair to move to the men's doubles second round but Olympics-bound N Sriram Balaji made an exit from the Wimbledon Championships along with Luke Johnson, in London, on Thursday.
Denmark will change their approach and offer more in attack as they bid to get past Croatia at the World Cup, coach Age Hareide promised on the eve of Sunday's second round match.
Germany beat Poland 2-0 in their opening match but they see Croatia, who overcame Austria 1-0, as a much more important scalp.
Croatia got their Euro 2008 campaign off to a winning start on Sunday when a fourth-minute Luka Modric penalty proved enough to beat co-hosts Austria 1-0 in the opening game of Group B.
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.
China's Sheng Lihao claimed his second gold of the Paris Olympics on Monday by winning the men's 10-metre air rifle event.
Croatia's Sandra Perkovic overcame nerves and early fouls to successfully defend her Olympic discus title, winning with a best throw of a 69.21 metres.
It was no surprise that Croatia cavorted on the pitch in celebration with fans and family long after beating England in the semi-finals of the World Cup on Wednesday night, but a wiser head might have ushered them quietly to ice bath and bed.
The Kremlin dubbed the Russian national team heroes and proud soccer fans saluted their underdog host team after the side lost on penalties to Croatia, bringing an end to its World Cup challenge at the quarter-finals.
Croatia will be ready for both versions of Russia, says Perisic
It will be the fifth edition in a row that the two heavyweights have met head to head at a European Championship.
Colombia's Camila Osorio pulled out a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 7-5 win over Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, and Italy's Martina Trevisan beat Mexico's Renata Zarazua 6-4, 6-3.
Check out India schedule on Sunday, Day 4 of competition at the Paris Paralympics 2024 where Nitesh Kumar and Sukant Kadam are one step away from Paralympic glory.
'But that in no way diminishes France's win. Maybe we were a bit unlucky, in the first six games we were favoured by luck'
Croatia and France were tied at 1-1 after Friday's singles in their Davis Cup semi-final clash in Zadar after Richard Gasquet and Marin Cilic both won their matches.
Czech Republic's Tomas Necid scored a stoppage-time penalty as they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Croatia in a dramatic Euro 2016 Group D encounter on Friday that was interrupted due to flares thrown on the pitch. With Croatia captain Dario Srna in tears during the national anthem having returned from the funeral of his father earlier in the week, the Croatians swarmed all over the Czechs from the first whistle, with Perisic opening the scoring in the 37th minute to lead at halftime.
The victory came for the Indian maestro after three straight draws in rounds 10, 11 and 12
Croatia will play their Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Italy behind closed doors after their fans caused more trouble during the 5-1 win over Norway, UEFA said on Wednesday.
Substitute Ricardo Quaresma turned in three minutes from the end of extra time as Portugal edged a tense encounter to book a UEFA Euro 2016 quarter-final date with Poland. After 116 minutes in which the teams failed to muster a single shot on target, Ivan Perisic headed against the upright.
Ivan Ljubicic inspired Davis Cup champions Croatia to an unassailable 3-0 lead over Austria in the World Group first round.
England's last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when they lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany in Turin while eight years later, in their first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to hosts and eventual winners France.
Both teams moved closer to their exit after a goalless draw.
Jannik Sinner's stupendous year may have been clouded by an anti-doping controversy but on the court he is finishing the season like an express train and has won 25 of his last 26 matches.
The UEFA has fined Croatia 10,000 Swiss francs ($7,950) after the team was shown five yellow cards in the match against Switzerland.
Croatia coach Niko Kovac knows his side face an uphill task against Miguel Herrera's side in Recife in the wake of Mexico's confidence-boosting draw with Brazil.
Croatia's state attorney is investigating Croatia international and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric on suspicion of giving false testimony in a criminal trial, the attorney's office said on Monday.
When Croatia meet Spain in their final Euro 2016 group match on Tuesday there will be as much scrutiny of developments in the stands as on the pitch.
Yamal, who at kick-off was 16 years and 338 days old, comfortably beats the previous record set by Poland's Kacper Kozlowski.
Striker Robbie Keane's 24th strike for his country helped Ireland beat Croatia 1-0 in a friendly international.
An 88th-minute goal by substitute Jesus Navas gave Spain a 1-0 victory over Croatia that sent them into the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as Group C winners on Monday.
Marin Cilic overcame Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2 after a titanic tussle in the opening singles rubber to give hosts Croatia a 1-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup final on Friday.
Both the nations are already looking ahead to their final group games.
A summary of Indian athletes' showing at the Paralympics in Paris on Wednesday.
Croatia captain Darijo Srna still feels the pain of losing on penalties to Turkey at the 2008 European Championship, but refused to talk of revenge ahead of another meeting between the teams at Euro 2016 on Sunday. Croatia exorcised some of their demons by beating Turkey 3-0 on aggregate in a playoff to reach Euro 2012. But Sunday will be the first time the sides have met at a major tournament since that quarter-final in Vienna eight years ago when Semih Senturk's 122nd-minute strike cancelled out Ivan Klasnic's opener three minutes earlier to send the tie to penalties.
6,000 free tickets for Friday's training session were snapped up in a few minutes when they went on sale and some are now being offered in small additions for hundreds of Euros
