of Ireland and Italy, and appearing as a substitute in the team's final match, a 1–0 loss to Spain. During the 2014 World Cup qualification, Perišić appeared in 12 matches for Croatia and scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw with Belgium. On 14 May, Perišić was named in Croatia's 30-man preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup. On 31 May, he scored a brace in a 2–1 win against Mali in a World Cup warm-up match in Osijek. Perišić was confirmed as a member of Croatia's final 23-man World Cup squad on 2 June. Perišić was in Croatia's starting team for the opening match of the 2014 World Cup, a controversial 3–1 defeat to tournament hosts Brazil at the Arena Corinthians, São Paulo. In the following match, he scored Croatia's second goal as they defeated Cameroon 4–0. On 23 June, he scored a consolation goal in the team's final group match, 3–1 defeat to Mexico which eliminated them from the tournament. Despite Croatia's early elimination, Perišić was ranked as the second-best performing player of the group stage by FIFA. Perišić was Croatia's top goalscorer in Euro 2016 qualifying, scoring six goals in nine matches as Croatia qualified in second place in Group H. In Croatia's second Euro 2016 group match, Perišić scored the opening goal of a 2–2 draw with the Czech Republic. Five days later, he scored the winning goal against Spain, which secured qualification to the knockout stage as group winners for Croatia. Perišić appeared regularly in Croatia's successful 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, as they finished runner-up in Group I which sent them to second round. The team played Greece, winning the first leg 4–1, with Perišić scoring the third goal in 33rd minute. Croatia booked their spot to the World Cup final stages in Russia on 12 November by playing a goalless draw in the returning leg. In May 2018, Perišić was named in Croatia's final squad for the 2018 World Cup. In the third group stage match, Perišić scored in the last minute of the regular time in the 2–1 win over Iceland as Croatia topped Group D on full points. During Croatia's semi-final match against England on 11 July, Perišić scored Croatia's equaliser in the second half of regulation time, and later also set-up Mario Mandžukić's match-winning goal in the second half of extra-time to give Croatia a 2–1 victory,