“For me, this victory is a bigger achievement than beating England at Wembley,” Bilic said.

It is Croatia’s second ever win over the Mannschaft after a first stunner in the World Cup 1998 semi-finals.

“It was a great match and I would like to extend special congratulation to my players, not only for battling hard but also for playing excellent football,” Bilic said.

The Croatians had the best of chances and were able to block the Germans from making any combinations.

“There is no other way to beat Germany than to play well. They are a great team and are still one of the title favourites. You cannot allow them to control any part of the pitch and that's how we tried to play against them,” added Bilic.

Croatia, 6 points, have secured a place in the quarter finals as Poland and Austria drew 1-1 on Thursday.