Jul 1, 2018 3 min read

Stretching every part of his body out into a star shape and diving to his right, Igor Akinfeev flicked out his left foot and kicked the ball high away from danger.

Akinfeev’s foot kept Russia’s party going Sunday night, ended the international career of one of Spain’s biggest stars and sealed the biggest upset of the tournament and one of the greatest in World Cup history.

Akinfeev saved two shots during the shootout, while all of his teammates scored to give Russia a 4-3 advantage after a draw that was dominated by Spain in every way but the 1-1 score.

Russia – the lowest ranked team in the World Cup at No. 70 in the world – is stunningly going to the quarterfinals to face Croatia Saturday.

“We’re hosting a fantastic tournament,” Akinfeev said. “I think our fans and foreign fans have recognized that we’re a country that can play football and organize big events.”

Akinfeev’s winning save against forward Iago Aspas made the national stadium in Moscow shake with the roar of around 70,000 Russians celebrating their team’s best World Cup run since it was the Soviet Union in 1966.

With Spain taking first, the shootout was poised at 2-2 when Akinfeev dove to his right to push away the kick by Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion. The Atletico Madrid midfielder lifted his shirt over his eyes in dismay.

Russian penalty kickers were perfect against Spain’s struggling goalkeeper David De Gea. After Akinfeev acrobatically blocked the left-footed shot of Aspas, he leapt up, punched the air with both hands and dove into a belly flop cross the rain-soaked turf as teammates raced to him from the halfway line.

Croatia 1 (3), Denmark 1 (2): Danijel Subasic saved three penalties to help Croatia reach the World Cup quarterfinals with a 3-2 shootout victory over Denmark following a 1-1 draw.

Ivan Rakitic scored the decisive penalty after Subasic had used his feet to stop an attempt from Nicolai Jorgensen.

Croatia captain Luka Modric, who also scored in the shootout, had a chance to put his team ahead late in injury time but his penalty was saved by Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Croatia will next face host Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Sochi.

Denmark took the lead in the first minute when defender Mathias Jorgensen scrambled in a shot that went in off Subasic’s left hand and then the left post. It was Denmark’s fastest ever World Cup goal.

Croatia equalized in the fourth minute with another untidy goal at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Henrik Dalsgaard’s clearance hit a teammate and fell for Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic to hook the ball in.

The teams stayed even for the next 116 minutes, including the 30 minutes of extra time.