Turkey 0-1 Croatia, Uefa Euro 2016: stunning Modric volley earns victory

Next up is Poland vs Northern Ireland. You can enjoy that here. Thanks again for joining us.

Thanks for joining us this afternoon. Croatia just about deserved the victory – Modric's strike was certainly deserving of something. As my former Guardian colleague Jack Schofield points out:

RESULT: Turkey 0-1 Croatia

There's an uncontested drop ball about to be contested. Turkey launch the ball back into the Croatian area but straight to the keeper. We have now had five minutes of injury time. Not much of it has involved actual play though...

Turkey almost have a chance but a great late tackle by Corluka snuffs out the chance. And is now down again and eating up more time. The referee makes him leave the field.

Turkey still pressing. The ball floats into the area and Danijel Subašić flops onto the ball in that way that goalkeepers do when their team is winning and the clock is into injury time. Mandžukić is substituted.

Kramarić gives away a free kick near the centre circle and Turkey come forward with the teenage Mor again. But he's blocked and the ball cleared and the Turks need to start again. Volkan Sen is given a yellow card for a tiny infraction. He's not happy. Four minutes to be added on...

The Croatian sub drives down the left but the ball runs out and Turkey have a goal kick with two minutes to go. And Croatia make another time-eating substitution, with Rakitic coming off for Schildenfeld.

Sen has added some zip to Turkey's attacking efforts and then Mor clips a ball into the area but it bounces away harmlessly.

Given what happened in 2008, neither of these teams are going to believe it's over until it's actually over. Turkey push forward and sling the ball into the box but it's easily cleared first time. Perisic is now being substituted. He might be injured. Or he might just be eating up 20 seconds. On comes Andrej Kramarić.

A surging run by Perisic into the Turkey area brings out a great save by Volkan Babacan, who comes out and smothers. Now Perisic is down, clearly wasting time, and is told to get off by the referee. A stretcher appears but he walks off, eating up seconds and bringing whistles from the Turkish fans. Six minutes to go and stillL Turkey 0-1 Croatia.

There's a nervous hush around the Parc de Princes.

Caner Erkin gets it up and over but the Croatian keeper gathers easily enough. Nine minutes to go.

A flowing Turkish move down the right seens Strinic bring down Sen on the edge of the box after a lovely little backheel by Mor. Free kick in a danger area...

Modric is dispossessed in midfield and the challenges are flying in. Time running out for Turkey (unbeaten in eight competitive games before today).

Corluka now has a new bandage – back to a white one. He's off the field for a couple of minutes but Turkey can't capitalise. Turkey 0-1 Croatia. 15 minutes to go.

Croatia rattle the Turkish woodwork again as a Perisic header clips the bar. But then Turkey storm back and are battering the Croatia defence. Corluka goes down with the ball nowhere near him: he has a bleeding head but that also gave the team in blue time to regroup and take the steam out of Turkey who were putting together a good spell.

And now Turkey are starting to press. Çalhanoğlu shoots from 20 yards. It goes wide but the intent was there and it's still a one-goal game.

Turkey roll the dice with their last substitution, bringing on 18-year-old Emre Mor for Tosun.

This was the free kick that clipped the Turkish bar:

Turkey are chasing and harrying, but Croatia are showing composure, passing the ball to safety. A quick break to Perisic on the left, his low ball flashes across the six-yard box, past the keeper and just eludes Brozovic.

SUB: Turan comes off for Turkey and is replaced by veteran Burak Yılmaz (who is currently plying his trade in China).

Modric stumbles under a challenge in the box and to give him full credit, he plays on with no dramatics. Didn't look like a penalty but he didn't try to make it look like one either. The ball eventually reaches Turkey's pink-clad keeper and safety.

Chance! The ball drops to Marcelo Brozovic about 10-yards out and he swivels and drives the ball hard but fractionally over the bar. Still 1-0 to Croatia, always a brittle lead. Half-an-hour to go.

Corluka has a new blue bandage. It's more colour coordinated with his Croatian kit but less stylishly applied. Still, better than bleeding everywhere.

Turkey have a cross and a corner. Volkan Sen is getting involved but it again comes to nought.

They have taken the big bandage off Corluka's head and now he's bleeding profusely again. Why did they take the bandage off? He's off the field and Croatia are temporarily down to 10-men.

Can Turkey capitalise on that let off? They need to get some rhythm going. Croatia looking much the more likely as they stream forward. Modric again instrumental in a move that breaks down on the edge of the Turkish penalty area. Still Turkey 0-1 Croatia.

And it should be 2-0. A great run and cross by Perisic bounces to Darijo Srna in plenty of space and the skipper drives it first time with his left foot but he drags it a foot wide when the goal was gaping.

Darijo Srna gets the ball up and down over a very long wall, but it rattles the top of the bar. Still Turkey 0-1 Croatia. 52 minutes gone.

Ivan Rakitić surges through one, two, three challenges before finally being fouled on the edge of the Turkish box. Free kick...

Turkey have signalled some intent by bringing Volkan Sen on for Ozyakup at half-time and the substitute immediately gets in on the action but can't get a proper shot away.

And the second half is underway to the sound of a very, very loud bang, possibly from a flair. Can Turkey come back here?

Look how happy Luka Modric is:

So, this is what the Croatian centre back now looks like.

Croatia happy to play keep ball during the two minutes of added time until a handball in midfield gives the ball back to Turkey. But the whistle blows and it is half time. Turkey 0-1 Croatia.

Half-time approaching and Turkey seeking an immediate reply. A great tackle gives Turkey a corner and it finds a Turkish head but flicks over the bar.

A stunning strike from Luka Modric: the ball came to him about 20 yards out and he volleyed first time into the corner. The Turkish keeper could possibly have done better getting down to his right, but it was a stunning strike.

GOAL! Turkey 0-1 Croatia (Modric)

Croatia have another corner and again it falls to Mandzukic, he swivels and shoots but it is straight to the keeper from about eight yards. Anywhere else and that might have been a goal, although there were a crowd of defenders swarming.

The ambitous free kick by Hakan Çalhanoğlu is very high. Cenk Tosun received the game's first yellow card for the elbow on Corluka.

There are some elbows flying and this could get tasty if allowed to go on. I don't think any of those elbows have been deliberately aimed, but they have had an impact. And now Turkey have a free-kick not far outside the Croatian box after a Modric foul...

Vedran Ćorluka is bleeding heavily after a clash and is being given running repairs. Indeed, he now has a head swathed in white bandages. Mandzukic is also down, but he doesn't seem to be bleeding.

Oooooh! A Turkish cross swings into the box and Ozan Tufan's header is hard and low but straight at Subasic who clutches the ball gratefully just in front of his goalline. Still 0-0.

The pink of Volkan Babacan is prominent as he punches clear a cross but only as far as a Croatian shirt and the shot comes straight back but into the grateful arms of the Turkish keeper.

Modric surges down the left but his give-and-go is broken up with a strong sliding tackle. Good conditions for the slide tackle today with rain in the air and on the grass.

Nice football by Turkey. A lovely little flick by Oguzhan but it all comes to nothing again as the ball dribbles out of play before a cross or a shot can be enactioned.

Another Croatian probe down the wings reaches Brozovic's head and again he can't quite make the right connection and Turkey survive. Still 0-0.

20 minutes gone and no goals and no serious chances yet. But here come Croatia and Perisic swings in a cross but Brozovic can't get his head into the right position and it bounces up and harmlessly away.

Turkey have their first corner but it fails to clear the first Croatian head in the box and is away to Modric.

Croatia have a corner cleared and then another cross reaches Mandzukic who heads goalward but it's weak and easily booted away.

Another little run by Modric threatens but comes to nought. Croatia pressing and possessing but being kept at arms length by Turkey.

Contributing the colourful scene in Paris I should mention that Turkey's keeper Volkan Babacan is clad all in pink.

Some skilful interchanges coming from both teams. A nice run by Turkey's full back Gokhan Gonul charging forward as he likes to do but after beating three men he is finally dispossessed.

Modric is being closed down quickly every time he gets the ball in midfield. Good hustle by the Turks.

Plenty of singing in Paris and plenty of passing until a Turkish foul gives Croatia a free-kick and a chance to attack, but the cross goes straight out of play. Still 0-0.

A Croatian corner goes over the heads of everyone in the box and Turkey regain the ball.

And the first ugly flashpoint on the pitch as Ozan Tufan crashes into Modric. It was late and deliberate and sparked a bit of remonstrating. Tufan gets away with a talking to from the referee.

Arda Turan of Barcelona and Turkey tries to fire in a cross but it is booted clear. Now it's Croatia's turn to launch their first foray and the cross is whipped across but Rakitic can't quite get a proper connection as he stretches and the ball deflects not quite enough to hit the goal and instead goes for a goal-kick. That was close.

Turkey wearing red kick off kicking left to right against Croatia in blue.

Anthems being heartily sung in a very colourful Parc des Princes in Paris. Kick off coming up...

Will this game be anywhere near as dramatic as the time these teams faced each other at Euro 2008 when Croatia took the lead in the 119th minute only to then concede an equalizer and lose on penalties. Here's a video clip of that late drama and by the time you've watched that we will be ready for today's game:

Line-ups (in a non-Uefa format):

Turkey: Volkan; Gokhan Gonul, Mehmet Topal, Balta, Caner; Oguzhan, Ozan Tufan; Selcuk, Hakan Çalhanoglu, Arda Turan; Cenk.

Croatia: Subasic; Srna, Corluka, Vida, Strinic; Badelj, Modric, Brozovic, Rakitic, Perisic; Mandzukic.

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).

Here are the line-ups (Uefa style):

Opening group games can often be cagey affairs, teams afraid to drop points rather than desperate to win. But as the other two teams in this group are Spain and the Czech Republic, three points in this game would appear to be Turkey and Croatia's best bet. Here's a preview of the other opening group game to be played tomorrow:

Lots of the pre-game talk is about the fighting in Marseille last night:

I'd like your predictions too please. Here's Joshua's:

The dissenting voices among my colleagues is sports ed Nick Howson who suggests Croatia may be overrated and Turkey underrated. This Turkish team started slowly in the qualifiers but recovered to qualify, eliminating Holland in the process. Turkey have plenty of attacking midfield options which should make them exciting to watch, including Arda Turan, Hakan Calhanoglu, Oguzhan Ozyakup and Yunus Malli. 23-year-old Ozyakup was an Arsenal youth and captain of Holland's under-21s. He then moved to Besiktas in 2012 and switched allegiances to Turkey.

So, my colleagues appear to favour Croatia pretty heavily. A team with a midfield that includes Luka Modric (Real Madrid) and Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) is surely to be reckoned with. But coach Ante Cacic doesn't seem to know his best line-up or strategy and his main striker, Mario Mandzukic, only scored one goal in the qualifiers. This is a nice preview of Croatia by Telegram's Aleksandar Holiga:

"Up front, the Juventus workhorse Mario Mandzukic is still first choice, despite scoring only one of Croatia's 20 goals in the qualifiers and despite his style not fitting that well with the rest of the team."

I asked my IBT colleagues for their predictions for today:

Share your thoughts/predictions/jokes/songs/videos/etc via Twitter to @Busfield.

This is nice to see ahead of today's early game: Turkish and Croatian fans having fun together:

After a big day of football and fighting yesterday, the first full day of Euro 2016, let's hope it's just action on the pitch that we care about today rather than the off-the-field foolishness. Hopefully England and Russia fans will be leaving Marseille and decamping to the tranquility and calm of a campsite somewhere, to take in the local culture and appreciate the scenery.

There are some lovely things for the Russians to see in Lille ahead of Wednesday's game against Slovakia (which I will be attending), such as the Palais des Beaux-Arts.

England and Wales fans will be boozeless in Lens and, given it is a town of just 34,000, maybe fewer interesting things to do. On the flip side the England fans have 1000km to travel to get there from Marseille.

But let's look forward to day three of Euro 2016.

Before the third home nation Northern Ireland and then world champions Germany begin their campaigns, we have the opening fixture in Group D where Turkey face Croatia. The group also features Spain and the Czech Republic so a good start will be needed today. Team news, all the build-up and a look back to the events on and off the field in Marseille last night on the way.