Fifa World Cup: Croatia meet Russia after Ivan Rakitic seals shoot-out win despite Kasper Schmeichel penalty heroics

They could have wrapped up the result five minutes from the end of extra time but Luka Modric had his penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

However, the Croatia captain returned to bravely take one of the post-match kicks as goalkeeper Danijel Subasic save three of Denmark’s efforts to set up a quarter-final meeting with Russia on Saturday.

It was Modric’s sublime pass that put Ante Rebic through on goal, before being brought down by Mathias Jorgensen, and offered Croatia a chance to win just before the lottery of the shoot-out. But Schmeichel made a smart save to keep the 1-1 stalemate intact through two hours of at times pedestrian football.

Two chaotic goals in the opening four minutes made for a rollicking start at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. However, it proved a false dawn as the spectacle faded with both sides choosing caution as their priority given the rare chance to reach the last eight at a World Cup.

Jorgensen took all of 57 seconds to breach the Croatia defence at the end of a long throw-in by Jonas Knudsen, stabbing at the ball with his left foot as he took it off teammate Thomas Delaney.