Boksic missed a glorious chance after half-an-hour to put Croatia ahead but he clipped the outside of the post with a left foot shot on the turn.
Just minutes into the second half the situation changed, Ecuador took the lead, but progression was still well within the grasp of the Croats who piled forward in search of the all important equaliser.
Unfortunately it never came and just to hammer the final nail in the coffin Italy grabbed a late equaliser themselves to put them back in command. As news filtered through from Yokohama that the final whistle had gone Mexico played out the dying minutes of their game by playing keep ball.