--- title: Croatian Firefighters Miss Croatia Victory Because Alarm description: Watch the moment when Croatian firefighters have to miss their country's victory over Russia because duty calls. canonical: https://time.com/5336137/world-cup-croatia-firefighters/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-11T19:54:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:48.685Z og:title: Croatian Firefighters Miss Country's Victory Because Alarm og:description: Duty calls og:url: https://time.com/5336137/world-cup-croatia-firefighters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8eef178a63ef1ca/698935248fd2eea71835c197/croatian-firefighters-miss-victory-over-russia-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Russia v Croatia: Quarter Final - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Croatian Firefighters Miss Country's Victory Because Alarm twitter:description: Duty calls twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8eef178a63ef1ca/698935248fd2eea71835c197/croatian-firefighters-miss-victory-over-russia-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Croatian Firefighters Missed Their Team's World Cup Victory Over Russia Because Duty Called > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d2017ea3-1404-432e-9fa8-6b840aff7bcd&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 11, 2018 7:54 PM UTC  SOCHI, RUSSIA - JULY 07: Ivan Rakitic of Croatia celebrates scoring the winning penalty in a shootout during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Quarter Final match between Russia and Croatia at Fisht Stadium on July 7, 2018 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) SOCHI, RUSSIA - JULY 07: Ivan Rakitic of Croatia celebrates scoring the winning penalty in a shootout during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Quarter Final match between Russia and Croatia at Fisht Stadium on July 7, 2018 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) Matthew Ashton - AMA—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 11, 2018 7:54 PM UTC [Cheering your team to victory](http://time.com/5316905/world-cup-japan-clean-trash/) is already an adrenaline-laced event, but the Zagreb Fire Department had an especially thrilling day when they were summoned to an emergency while watching the nail-biting penalty shootout at the [2018 World Cup](http://time.com/5243280/2018-world-cup-when-where/) that eventually gave Croatia a victory over Russia, sending them to the [World Cup semi-finals to compete against England.](http://time.com/money/5334829/world-cup-2018-watch-england-vs-croatia-game-online-free/) In a hilarious and now-viral video shared on Facebook, a team of firefighters watches the game’s penalties against Russia, when suddenly the emergency alarm sounds and they drop everything to do their duty. Three lucky firefighters who only needed to prep the engines were able to catch Ivan Rakitic match-winning penalty after the other firefighters left and obviously, celebrated accordingly. 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