Ivan Rakitić the competition. On 15 October 2008, he scored a brace in a 4–0 win at home to Andorra. On 5 September 2009, he scored the match-winning goal in a 1–0 win at home to Belarus. Croatia failed to qualify for the finals after finishing third in their group. After appearing in all of their Euro 2012 qualifiers, he was selected to be part of the Croatian squad at the Euro finals in Poland and Ukraine. Croatia were drawn in Group C together with Spain, Italy and the Republic of Ireland. Rakitić started in all three of Croatia group stage matches.
Turkey national football team Greece. Turkey and Croatia have played each other 9 times, with their first encounter at Euro 1996; where both countries made their debuts in the opening match, which Croatia won 1–0. A well-remembered match between them was at Euro 2008, which Turkey won on penalties after a 1–1 deadlock even after extra-time. With the win, Turkey reached the semi-finals in only their third appearance overall at the Euro finals. The two teams faced each other in the 2012 Euro qualifying play-offs, with Croatia winning 3–0 in the first-leg in Istanbul, and advancing to the tournament finals following a 0–0 draw