Croatia’s players collapsed to the ground at the final whistle, while their fans stood motionless in the stands, staring in disbelief at what had just unfolded.
The 2018 World Cup finalists had been far from their best in the first two games of this tournament, losing comprehensively to Spain and then drawing with Albania.
That meant they went into this game against the defending champions as underdogs, a label they often relish, and they certainly appeared to thrive off it with their start to this game.
They had Italy firmly on the back foot but as the match wore on it looked like their struggles in the final third would be their undoing.
But up stepped Modric. The 38-year-old recovered seconds after seeing his penalty following a handball saved to drive a shot into the roof of the net and send Croatian fans wild.
From then on they managed the game superbly but, with almost the last kick of the game, Zaccagni saw space for the shot to devastate the Croatian fans.
It now remains to be seen what happens to Croatia’s ageing stars, with Modric and others who had taken them to a World Cup semi-final two years ago now in their mid to late 30s.