Spain was cruising against Croatia, until suddenly it wasn’t.
It would be too definitive to declare that Monday, June 28, 2021 was the greatest day of tournament soccer in history.
Its group phase, always something of a slow burn, had been illuminated by Italy’s adventure and Denmark’s remarkable courage, by Spanish neurosis and Dutch energy.
On Day 1 of the knockout round — a day that feels like the distant past but was, in fact, Saturday — Denmark swept past Wales, and Italy edged out Austria.
Perhaps the best way of phrasing it is this: Twenty minutes into the first game of the day, Spain’s meeting with Croatia, the prodigiously gifted Spanish midfielder Pedri scored an own goal — through no fault of his own — from just inside his own half.
As the game entered injury time, Mario Pasalic tied the game at 3-3, his great gift to the world an additional 30 minutes of the game.
France, the reigning world champion and the overwhelming favorite to win this competition, had played beneath itself for the tournament’s opening phase.
Haris Seferovic’s giving Switzerland the lead, then, seemed like a rookie mistake: the last thing anyone wants to do is get France angry.
Normal time might have yet brought another surprise — France’s Kingsley Coman hitting the bar with the last kick — but instead, once again, extra time loomed.
The 10th was Kylian Mbappé, world soccer’s blossoming star, the jewel in France’s crown.
There will have been more absorbing, more compelling, more breathtaking days in a major tournament previously, ones that have brought more goals or more twists or more iconic moments.