Surprise squad Croatia is set to face struggling powerhouse team Portugal in the last 16 round of the 2016 UEFA European Championship in a game scheduled at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens this Saturday, June 25.
Croatia had pulled the rug under star-studded team Spain, 2-1, during their third round group stage encounter at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux in Bordeaux to gain the top spot in the Group D standings with seven points (2 wins and 1 draw), as per SkySports.
La Furia Roja, who is one of the projected teams to advance at least in the semifinals of this summer's competitions, opened the scoring right at the seventh minute with a strike by Juventus forward Alvaro Morata via an assist from Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
However, the game did not go on as planned for the Spaniards as head coach Ante Cacic's squad scored the next two goals to pull off a come-from-behind victory over the world no. 6 team.
Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinic scored at the stroke of halftime for Croatia before he assisted on Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic's goal with three minutes left in the game to complete the stunning comeback.
Meanwhile, Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo have not lived up to their billing as one of the teams to beat in the tournament as they failed to score a single win in the group stage. They are also unbeaten, though, as all of their matches were draws.
In their most recent fixture, A Selecção was held to a 3-3 deadlock by Group F top team Hungary at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon on Wednesday, ESPN reported.
Ronaldo was able to score a brace at the 50th and 62nd minutes of the match, but they were not enough to snatch the win from the Magical Magyars, who were projected to finish at the bottom of the group prior to the tournament.
Portugal is favored to win this game versus Croatia as the Real Madrid forward is expected to lift his game a notch higher to help his country advance in the tourney's quarterfinals.
The predicted result is a close 2-1 decision for Portugal.
Croatia starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Subasic; Srna, Corluka, Jedvaj, Vrsaljko; Rog, Badelj; Perisic, Rakitic, Pjaca; Kalinic
Portugal starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Patricio; Vieirinha, Pepe, R. Carvalho, Eliseu; Mario, W. Carvalho, Moutinho, Quaresma; Ronaldo, Nani