Euro 2024 served up another thrilling game as the second round of group fixtures began in Hamburg. Albania led for much of Wednesday afternoon’s pulsating contest at Volksparkstadion, having notched an early header through Qazim Laci as they again made a brilliant start to proceedings after scoring the earliest goal in European Championship history against defending champions Italy at the weekend, before losing 2-1.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic should have done much better but Croatia were later indebted to him for two huge saves to keep the score at 1-0 heading into half-time. Croatia - brushed aside 3-0 by Spain in their opening match - were much improved after a pair of changes at the break, ratcheting up the tempo and the intensity and piling on both pressure and chances, eventually getting the breakthrough they deserved when birthday boy Andrej Kramaric fired home.
That was followed just a couple of minutes later by an unfortunate own goal from Albania substitute Klaus Gjasula, who earned redemption with an equaliser deep into stoppage time as a memorable clash ended all square in Group B - the so-called ‘Group of Death’ - ahead of the heavyweight showdown between Italy and Spain in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday night. Follow Croatia vs Albania reaction from Euro 2024 live below!
