The eighth day of the Fifa World Cup 2018 will be remembered for one thing: Lionel Messi. And his dream to win the World Cup with Argentina. The dream that seems next to impossible after today's heavy 0-3 defeat at the hands of Croatia. Two more matches were played earlier in the day with Denmark and Australia tied at 1-1 by the end of the full-time in a Group C match. France edged out Peru, who have exited the tournament, 1-0 in another game in the same group. The Argentina-Croatia match in Group D was the day's last, and the last one where Argentina had a chance to control their destiny.
Here are the highlights of today’s matches:
1st Match: Denmark vs Australia
Maybe the Argentinians ought to borrow Mile Jedinak from Australia for tonight's match against Croatia. The Australian has scored from the spot 12 times in as many attempts for his national team. And it was his latest attempt, after a VAR-consulted penalty, that brought Australia level with Denmark who had taken a lead in the seventh minute through a superbly struck Christian Eriksen half-volley goal during the Group C match at the Samara Arena today that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Trivia:-- Mile Jedinak's penalty ended a run of nine hours and 31 minutes without conceding at international level for Kasper Schmeichel (571 minutes).(Source:OptaJoe)
-- -- Mile Jedinak is the only player in World Cup history with 3+ goals, with all goals being penalty kicks (3). (Source:OptaJoe)
2nd Match: France vs Peru
France are through to the round of 16 and Peru head home after playing one more game against Australia. This, despite the fact that Peru played fantastic football in both their matches, which they lost, up until reaching the final third. France, on the other hand, weren't at their best during their group C clash at the Ekaterinburg Arena but go home with all three points, courtesy teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe's first World Cup goal.
3rd Match: Argentina vs Croatia
Croatia advanced to the knock-out stage with a 3-0 win against Argentina at the Nizhny Novgorod Arena on Thursday. The ageing Argentina squad never actually woke up from their deep slumber as the likes of Rebic, Modric and Rakitic hammered away three goals into the back of the Argentine net.
 "Croatia vs Argentina")
