Dalic: Croatia's self-belief key to World Cup success

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic insisted his impressive side must trust their qualities as they head into the World Cup knockout stage.

Ivan Perisic's late strike against Iceland maintained Croatia's perfect record, with Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty having cancelled out Milan Badelj's impressive opener in a 2-1 victory for the Group D winners.

And although a total of nine changes did not help Croatia recapture the form of their opening two games, Dalic was thrilled to end the group with three victories, insisting his squad have to trust in themselves to progress deep into the competition.

"We have to trust our quality, respect all of our opponents, but never concede that anybody is better than us," he told a news conference.

"We have to put the three matches behind us. We have to focus on Denmark, the moment of truth on Sunday, which is what we are eagerly awaiting.

"From this moment on, the group stage is over. I don't think it will end in the last 16 but we have to focus on Denmark, prepare for that game and see what happens on Sunday.

"You can't choose your opponents. We have to beat all comers if we are to get to the quarter-finals.

"What awaits us is the most important thing for us. The most important things are yet to come."

Denmark secured their place in the knockout stage thanks to a 0-0 draw with France – the first stalemate at the tournament – but Dalic added that Croatia must improve if they are to make it into the last eight.

"They are similar to Iceland. Disciplined, great character, two or three good individuals like Christian Eriksen," Dalic said.

"We've scouted them, to see what is best for us. We won (against Iceland), but our performance was not ideal."