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.
UEFA Euro 2012 statistics if the UEFA disciplinary committee had judged the offence as warranting it. In keeping with the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (UDR), UEFA did not allow for appeals of red cards except in the case of mistaken identity. The FDC further stipulated that if a player was sent off during his team's final Euro 2012 match, the suspension would carry over to his team's next competitive international(s), which in this case would be the qualification matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Any player who was suspended due to a red card that was earned in Euro