Goals in each half from Luka Modric and Ante Budimir gave Croatia a historic first victory over Portugal in eight games when they beat the hosts 2-1 in an international friendly on Saturday, while Cristiano Ronaldo remained on the bench.
Vitinha brought down Mateo Kovacic in the box shortly after kick-off, leading to a penalty. Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa correctly guessed where Modric would aim, but his shot to his right fell short as the Real Madrid midfielder scored his 25th goal for Croatia.
But half-time substitute Diogo Jota leveled Portugal three minutes after coming on, when fellow substitute Nelson Semedo found him inside the six-yard box with a short cross from the right. The Liverpool forward did not miss the shot from point-blank range.
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But Croatia regained the lead eight minutes later, despite the best efforts of Costa, who deflected Budimir's attempt well onto the crossbar. The rebound went straight to Budimir, who headed it easily.
Ronaldo joined Portugal on Friday after finishing his campaign at Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. The 39-year-old will make a record sixth appearance at the European Championship. Ronaldo, men's international soccer's all-time leading scorer with 128 goals, helped Portugal win the European title in 2016.
Portugal, who have won six of their previous seven matches against Croatia, will begin their Euro 2024 Group F campaign against the Czech Republic on June 18. Croatia will face Spain in its first Group B match next Saturday.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
