Croatia threw out a red carpet and staged a heroes’ welcome for the country’s national team despite its loss to France in the World Cup final.
Tens of thousands of people wearing national red-and-white colours and waving Croatian flags poured into the streets in of the capital Zagreb on Monday to greet the players.
The ecstatic crowd crammed the city’s central square and lined up along the route where the players passed in an open bus.
Croatian air force jets escorted the plane carrying the team from Russia as it entered the country’s air space and flew over the capital Zagreb.