It was July 7, 2018, a summer night, when all of Croatia seemed to hold its breath. In Sochi, the Croatian national team faced Russia in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
After 120 tense minutes, it came down to a penalty shootout. The nation’s hopes rested on one man’s shoulders: Ivan Rakitić, who stepped up to take the decisive kick.
A video, now iconic, captured that moment far from the stadium, inside a modest fire station in the town of Zagreb.
A group of Croatian firefighters sat crowded around a small TV screen, clad in their national team’s colours, but for a few precious seconds, just fans like everyone else.
The screen showed Rakitić placing the ball. Croatia had already waited 20 years to reach a World Cup semi-final; the last time was their magical run in 1998. This kick could take them there again.
But just as the midfielder began his run-up, a sharp alarm cut through the station. A distress call. In an instant, the firefighters sprang up.
Without a second thought, they abandoned the screen and ran to the fire truck.
Boots slammed the floor, helmets went on, and the engine roared to life, all while, in the corner of the frame, Rakitić calmly sent his shot past Igor Akinfeev to win it for Croatia.
They did not see it live. They did not cheer, scream, or hug like the rest of the country. Duty called, and the celebration had to wait.
When the footage surfaced later, the siren blaring, the men vanishing out the door while the goal went in, it struck a chord far beyond Croatia.
It became a symbol of quiet heroism: of people who drop everything, even a moment that means the world to them, to answer the call for someone else.
Rakitić’s penalty secured Croatia’s place in the semi-final against England, where they’d go on to make history by reaching their first-ever World Cup final.
But for many, the lasting image of that night wasn’t just a ball hitting the back of the net; it was a firehouse door swinging shut behind men who had no idea yet that Croatia had just won.
Watch the video below:
FKA/EB
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