The Croatia team return from the World Cup in Russia - Zagreb,Croatia - July 16, 2018 Croatia's Luka Modric on stage. Reuters
PV Sports Desk : More than 300,000 Croats in red and white chequered shirts and scarves poured onto the streets of the capital Zagreb on Monday to welcome home the national football team after their run all the way to the final at the World Cup in Russia.
Despite losing to France in Moscow on Sunday, Croatia achieved its best-ever World Cup result, surpassing the third place won 20 years ago at the World Cup in France. “They lost the final, but won the world,” was a headline in the Jutarnji List daily.
The team’s success in Russia brought evident joy to the small Balkan nation of 4 million people, and the celebration was broadcast live on national television from the moment the plane from Moscow neared Zagreb airport.In honour of the team, the plane was escorted by two fighter jets after entering Croatian air space. Upon landing, water cannons created an arch of water that the plane taxied through, and a red carpet was rolled out for the players.
