Ivan Rakitic Goal Gives Croatia Narrow Win vs. Mexico in 2018 Friendly

Croatia defeated Mexico 1-0 in an international friendly Tuesday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Ivan Rakitic had the only goal, with the Barcelona midfielder scoring from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute after a foul by Miguel Layun.

Layun scored two goals to help lift Mexico to a victory over Iceland in its last friendly. On Tuesday, he was front and center as Rakitic broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute. Layun kicked out at Tin Jedvaj in the 18-yard box to draw a penalty to Croatia.

Rakitic stepped up to the penalty spot and slotted his kick into the bottom left corner and past a diving Guillermo Ochoa.

Mexico wrapped up the international break with a pair of fixtures that likely left a lot to be desired among supporters.

While the final score was 3-0, Mexico struggled against Iceland, which was without midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. With the 2018 World Cup fewer than three months away, another sluggish performance is exactly what fans didn't want to see.

Compounding matters, Nestor Araujo suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury. The Santos Laguna defender went down holding his left knee in the 14th minute, and the Washington Post's Steven Goff reported he was transported to a hospital for further evaluation.

Fox Sports' Rodolfo Landeros noted Araujo wasn't the first Mexico national team player injured at AT&T Stadium ahead of a World Cup:

Santos Laguna tweeted out its support for Araujo after the injury:

Especially with El Tri failing to lift the Arlington crowd with a goal, Araujo's exit overshadowed everything else that happened in the first half. ESPN FC's Tom Marshall thought his injury had an impact on the players as well when they headed for the dressing room at halftime:

The additions of Raul Jimenez and Jesus Molina in the second half helped Mexico pose more of a threat in the attacking third, but El Tri were still unable to generate any goalscoring opportunities. Mexico finished with 64 percent possession, yet had one fewer shot on target (three) than Croatia (four).

The result will be even more frustrating since this is pretty close to the squad coach Juan Carlos Osorio will take to Russia for the World Cup, with Ochoa, Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Hirving Lozano and Andres Guardado featuring in the starting lineup.

On the other side, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic had far from what is his strongest side. Mario Mandzukic, Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic were among the notable names to pass on international duty.

Between the defeat and Araujo's injury, there are few positives for Mexico to take away from Tuesday night.

El Tri won't play again until May 28, when they take on Wales. They have three more friendlies before meeting Germany in their first game of the World Cup. Osorio will have a number of issues to address before then.