Former England captain Alan Shearer has said that Croatia will return to their country "as heroes" following their performance at the 2018 World Cup.
The European nation reached their first ever World Cup final courtesy of a 2-1 win over England in the semi-finals of the competition last week.
Zlatko Dalic's side fell at the final hurdle on Sunday afternoon, however, as they suffered a 4-2 defeat to France in Moscow.
Shearer has insisted that Croatia "deserve credit" for their performances this summer, having come from behind in each of their three knockout games with Denmark, Russia and England to make the final.
"Croatia deserve great credit because they kept going. They were behind in every knockout game and they fought back. Again in this final, to be behind and then come back to make it as entertaining as it was, they deserve credit and they return home as heroes," Shearer told BBC Sport.
Croatia's previous best performance at a World Cup had been third at France 1998.
