“It is not easy to hold back Denmark’s offense team, Eriksen in particular, who I think is one of the best playmakers in Europe and the world. We should pay special attention to him. Denmark deserves to advance to the quarterfinals, but we deserve to play in the next stage as well. We will fight for the victory,” Rakitic told journalists.

He added that Denmark were very serious opponents who have not lost once in the past 18 games, and his team should be “ready for the physical pressure and play carefully in defense.”

Croatia beat Iceland 2-1 on Tuesday to win Group D with the maximum nine points and will face Group C runners-up Denmark in Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday in the last 16.

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