"I believed in my team from the very beginning, though I didn't think that we would reach the knockout stage after the second match. I'm glad that it happened so early. It's not Argentina who played poorly, it's us who played amazingly," Dalic told journalists.

Croatia, who beat Argentina 3-0 in Nizhny Novgorod, now top their group with six points. They will next face Iceland in their final group stage game.

"We have passed the group stage, we have beaten the strong team that has the world's best player, we played this great match, but we need to remain humble. I want my players to stay as hungry for the victory as they are, only this way we'll be able to achieve good results at the tournament," the head coach added.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches set to be played in 11 cities across Russia.