Borguetti (left) - challenges Soldo (Allsport)

Final score: Croatia 0 Mexico 1

90 min: Croatia's best chance comes in stoppage time as the long throw is flicked on at the near post and Simunic sneaks behind the defence and his five-yard volley is blocked superbly by Perez.

90 min: The fourth official announces three minutes of addtional time.

88 min: Croatia try a long ball in search of Stanic but the Chelsea man is caught offside.

86 min: Morales tricks his way past Niko Kovac near the angle of the area and blasts a shot straight at Pletikosa at the near post.

85 min: Morales' left-wing cross is headed across by Mercado coming in at the far post and hacked clear by Croatia.

84 min: Rapaic makes another break down the left but his centre aiming for Stanic at the far post is over-hit.

82 min: Jarni feeds Rapaic on the left but his cross is dealt with easily as the Croats have no one in the area.

80 min: The hero of the day Blanco goes off to be replaced by Juan Francisco Palencia.

79 min: Mercado breaks down the right and his cut back beats everyone until Morales coming in from the left, slices his volley well wide.

77 min: A lovely dummy by Morales sends Luna scampering down the left but Blanco is inches away from meeting his low centre.

76 min: Blanco again drifts out wide to pick up possession and his cross is headed out to touch by Simunic at full stretch.

74 min: Blanco wins another free kick by getting on the wrong side of Tomas Morales drills in the free kick which is blocked by Soldo at the near post.

72 min: The game is going through a listless spell and Croatia now have no real striker on the pitch even though they are behind.

69 min: A determined run by Rapaic takes him past two men and he wins a corner, which goes too deep and Niko Kovac has to retrieve.

67 min: Boksic, who has a head wound, is replaced by Mario Stanic while Luis Hernandez comes for Borguetti for the Mexicans.

65 min: Soldo tries his luck with speculative 30-yarder which Perez goes on his knees to grasp and then spills just round his right-hand post.

64 min: Ten-man Croatia make a change bringing on Daniel Saric for Suker.

61 min: GOAL BLANCO. Blanco plays a neat one-two with Torrado and darts into the area only to be tripped by Boris Zivkovic. The defender is red-carded for the foul and Blanco steps up to convert the spot kick comfortably.

59 min: Borguetti wins a tussle for posserssion with Soldon and get room to make a cross by Jarni comes across to snuff out the danger.

57 min: Blanco feeds Mercado on the right but his cross is headed away by Simunic as Borguetti waited.

55 min: Croatia have a free kick 35 yards from goal and Rapaic drills a creditable shot just a couple of feet wide.

53 min: Luna picks up the ball on the left and feeds Torrado infield but his long-range shot bobbles embarrassingly well wide.

51 min: Luna is active at the other end of the pitch cutting the ball back to the D for Blanco but Robert kovac gets a foot in first to clear.

49 min: Niko Kovac sprints down the right and sends over a low cross which Mexico hesitate over and Luna helps out his defence by hooking clear.

47 min: Croatia again go close with a dead-ball as Perez tips over Soldo's header.

46 min: Croatia start the second half with Milan Rapaic on in midfield for Prosinecki.

Half-time: Croatia 0 Mexico 0

45 min: Mexico counter quickly and Niko Kovac races back 50 yards to stop Luna at the expense of a corner. Blanco's vicious inswinger is punched clear by an under-pressure Pletikosa.

45 min: Croatia get one last free kick just inside the Mexican half and it's played wide to Niko Kovac who loses it.

45 min: The fourth official announces one minute of additional time.

44 min: Jarni tries to find the isolated Boksic up front but the Boro man is caught fractionally offside.

42 min: Morales finds Gerardo Torrado in space outside the area but his 25-yard drive flies straight into the arms of Pletikosa.

41 min: Blanco tries his famous bunny-hop but he doesn't fool his marker and ends up just tripping over his own feet.

39 min: Suker turns his man cleverly but cannot find Boksic with the through ball.

37 min: Mexico win a free kick on the right and Luna's inswinger is well taken by Pletikosa who comes from his line to take the ball confidently.

36 min: Croatia win yet another corner but Prosinecki's flag kick, despite beating the first man, is plucked from the air by Perez.

35 min: Blanco's swinging cross causes havoc in the Croatia area, Luna wins the header and it drops back to Morales' whose cross-shot is turned wide by Borguetti from only three yards out.

33 min: For Morales' next corner, Blanco finds a bit of space in the area to get a falling header on target but Pletikosa is not unduly troubled.

32 min: Manuel Vidrio's is sliced behind for a corner by Simunic and Morales plays a short routine with Blanco which ends with Morales' shot being blocked.

30 min: Luna cuts in from the left and flicks the ball behind Ramon Morales and Croatia break from defence to clear the ball.

28 min: Another clever chip into the box by Blanco is looking for Borguetti and Stipe Pletikosa has to be alert to race from his goal-line to meet the ball first.

27 min: Perez races from his goal to foil the run down the right by Niko Kovac and just gets there first to kick out for a throw.

25 min: Mercado tries to run past Jarni but the Croatian full-back is content to shepherd it out.

23 min: Prosinecki takes a right-wing corner for Croatia which is so poor the near-post man is able to clear comfortably.

21 min: Mercado concedes a corner which Jarni repeats with a far-post kick to where Simunic is waiting but his header across goal is this time cleared by Rafael Marquez.

18 min: Caballero escapes down the right and sends over a vicious low cross which Robert Kovac hooks clear as Jared Borguetti arrived on the scene.

16 min: Blanco again causes havoc down the flank but his low cross is scraped away from the six-yard box by Jarni.

14 min: Boksic's clever turn on the bye-line wins a corner which is drilled to the far post to the waiting Simunic whose knockdown is volleyed over the bar by an unmarked Soldo.

13 min: Niko Kovac is bundled over near the touchline and Prosinecki's dead-ball is cleared by the Mexican defence.

11 min: A long diagonal ball sees Suker pulling away to the corner of the box but his ambitious left-foot volley is sliced well wide of the target.

9 min: Blanco beats Prosinecki with a cute back-heel and Tomas trips the livewire striker when he tries to get the return ball.

7 min: Robert Jarni slips the challenge of Blanco on the left but Caballero comes across to body-check him. Jarni's free kick produces a great header from Josip Simunic which Oscar Perez palms away well.

5 min: Braulio Luna gets down the left for Mexico but his low cross is cut out by Zvonimir Soldo.

4 min: Croatia win a free kick for a foul on Niko Kovac but Prosinecki's 30-yard curling effort is well over the bar.

3 min: A clever reverse pass from Blanco almost gets Gabriel Caballero through into the box but Stejpan Tomas gets back to put him off.

1 min: Croatia get the match under way in Niigata.

Pre-match: Middlesbrough's Alen Boksic is fit at last to start a World Cup campaign for Croatia who also boast former Arsenal star Davor Suker alongside him in attack and former Portsmouth midfield maestro Robert Prosinecki. The Mexicans have the flamboyant Cuauhtemoc Blanco up front.