Croatia topped Group D with nine points after a 2-1 win over Iceland in Rostov-on-Don on Tuesday. Ivan Perisic's last-minute goal knocked out a resilient Iceland with their win in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018.
After a dry first half, Milan Badelj gave a lead to Croatia in the 53rd minute. However, Gylfi Sigurdsson's 76th-minute penalty gave Iceland a hope of hopping back, but Iceland's fighting spirit declined as Perisic secured a third successive win for Croatia in the 90thminute.
Croatia will be joined in the last 16 by Argentina following their dramatic 2-1 win over Nigeria and is scheduled to meet Denmark in the knockout stage in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday.
In another Group D match on Tuesday, a late goal from Marcos Rojo gave Argentina a 2-1 triumph over Nigeria in their final match taking the two-time champions into the round of 16. Lionel Argentina Messi's stunning shot led Argentina to a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute, which was also the 100th goal of the tournament on whole. However, Victor Moses' penalty gave an equaliser to Nigeria in the 51st minute.
While both sides failed on numerous close attempts, Rojo became the saviour for Argentina. Mercado raided down the right and bent a brilliant cross into the penalty area, allowing Rojo to time his run perfectly to tuck home a low right-footed volley. This win has ensured Argentina to face France next in the round of 16.
In a Group C match, France and Denmark progressed into the Round of 16 after they played the first goalless draw at the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday. The result helped Denmark to advance to the next round as runner-up with five points while France topped the group with 7 points.
Croatia being at the top of Group D is guaranteed to qualify but can still finish second if they are beaten by Iceland and Nigeria can send off Argentina by a big scoreline.
On the other side, Peru skipper Paolo Guerrero smashed a second-half goal slamming Australia with a 2-0 in the third and final Group C match at the Fisht Stadium on Tuesday. 11th ranked Peru has finally managed to break their standstill in the tournament and earn three points with a win over 36th ranked Australia.
In the 18th minute of the match, striker Andre Carrillo finally opened Peru's account in the 2018 World Cup when he smashed a hit from the edge of the box to put his side ahead. Guerrero struck a second goal for Peru with a hooked shot from close range in the 50th minute of the match to knock down Australia's hopes of making into the round of 16.
With the win, Peru finished at the third spot in the group, while Australia ended at the bottom of Group C with a single point from their three games. However, both the teams have been knocked out of the tournament as the other two teams of the group namely, France and Denmark grabbed the top two spots following a goalless draw between the two sides.
Group winners France will now lock horns with the runners-up in a group containing Argentina, Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria, while Denmark will face the team who finishes top.
So far ten teams have advanced to the knockout stage and they are Russia, Uruguay, Spain, Portugal, France, Denmark, Croatia, Argentina, England and Belgium.
Teams that have been eliminated are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Morocco, Peru, Costa Rica, Tunisia, Panama, Poland, Iran, Australia, Nigeria and Iceland.
