Malta was on the receiving end of a 7-1 thrashing by Croatia in front of home support at the Ta’ Qali national stadium.

The result, the worst in Malta’s so far successful world cup qualifying campaign, sees Croatia move with two points of group leader Russia.

The Maltese minnows knew they were going to face a stern test from the 2018 World Cup finalists, but the night got off to an awful start with Perisic slotting home to an empty net after five minutes. Caleta-Car doubled to score in the 22nd minute.

Malta managed to bring the score to 2-1 through a Brozovic own-goal, but Croatia quickly took command, ending the first half leading 4-1 after Modric and Pasalic scored.

Croatia did not rest on their laurels in the second half, with Majer scoring in the 47th minute to make the score 5-1. Kramaric scored next before Majer got his double in the 65th minute.

The match then petered out towards the finish, with the Croats in comfortable control at 7-1.

It was a disappointing night for Malta, who had so far managed a decent run of results throughout the campaign. Hopefully, Devis Mangia will be able to turn it around in Sunday’s home match against Slovenia.