The South Americans had been set to reach the semi-finals in Qatar but after the Paris Saint-Germain hero's record-equalling goal was cancelled out by Bruno Petkovic before a devastating loss on spot-kicks.
Advertisement
The shoot-out got off to the worst-possible start as Real Madrid starlet Rodrygo missed from 12 yards after a fine stop from Dominik Livakovic, giving his teammates plenty to do if they were to progress.
Advertisement
The Europeans struck home all four of their's before Marquinhos was handed a penalty he had to score - but he struck the post.
Croatian players went wild, chasing the sensational Livakovic but in the centre-circle Brazilians lay broken and in tears.
Talisman Neymar was left shocked, stunned, and staring at the turf, while later he was pictured in tear and being consoled by veteran Dani Alves.
Rodrygo was upset and consoled by Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, in a fine display of sportsmanship in the aftermath of a stunning clash in Qatar.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Manchester United summer signing Antony wept, face buried in the turf.
Advertisement
The Brazilians, though, only had themselves to blame, according to Dean Ashton, who couldn't believe their dismal defending for Croatia's late equaliser.
"They switched off Brazil, totally switched off," he moaned on talkSPORT.
"How can you be 4 v 4 against a team looking to score deep into injury time? It's not good enough!"It takes a wicked deflection, but do they care? No way! They're the masters of it, Croatia, they're the masters of comebacks in big competitions!
Advertisement
"It was ridiculous from Brazil, so naive! It's simply not good enough at this level!"