Croatia remind of their quality as they seek to emulate class of '98

Soccer Football - World Cup - Group D - Argentina vs Croatia - Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia - June 21, 2018 Croatia's Domagoj Vida and Mario Mandzukic celebrate with team mates after Luka Modric scored their second goal REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (Reuters) - Croatia might have been under the radar coming into the World Cup finals but there will be few sides relishing the possibility of playing them after they displayed their quality with a 3-0 thumping of Argentina in Group D on Thursday.

The convincing result at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium put Croatia into the second round for the first time since their run to the semi-finals in their maiden World Cup appearance in France in 1998.