Ivan Perisic ends Spain’s two-year wait to fall behind in Croatia defeat

Ivan Perisic ended a remarkable Spain run by scoring Croatia’s opener in their 2-1 defeat by La Roja in Split on Tuesday.

The veteran Croatia forward struck in the 17th minute, becoming the first player in more than two years to put Spain behind in a match.

Spain, managed by Luis de la Fuente, eventually recovered to win the fourth-round Nations League group-stage fixture, but Perisic’s goal brought an end to one of the team’s longest-standing sequences.

Perisic capitalised after Unai Simon had parried an attempt from Matanovic, reacting quickest to the rebound to give Croatia the lead. Spain had been under considerable pressure from the opening stages before falling behind.

According to Spanish statistician Alexis Martin-Tamayo, better known as MrChip on X, the goal ended a run of 32 consecutive matches in which no opponent had taken a 1-0 lead against Spain.

“CRO 1-0 ESP (17′) – Ivan Perisic ends a historic streak: Spain hadn’t conceded the first goal of a match in more than 2 years,” MrChip wrote. “The last time was in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, against France. 32 straight matches had gone by without a rival going 1-0 up on Spain.”

Spain’s previous occasion of conceding the opening goal came in the semi-final of Euro 2024 against France. Randal Kolo Muani put France ahead after eight minutes in Munich.

That match also ended 2-1 in Spain’s favour. Lamine Yamal equalised in the 21st minute before Dani Olmo completed the turnaround four minutes later, sending Spain through to the final, where they went on to win the tournament.

Against Croatia, Spain again overturned an early deficit to maintain their winning result, although the match marked the first time in 32 games that they had been required to do so after conceding first.

The result in Split came despite Perisic’s early intervention, which achieved something no opposing player had managed during Spain’s extended run under de la Fuente.