Just after 1.08, Alphonso Davies broke free in the middle and headed in Tajon Buchanan's precise cross and wild joy erupted in the Canadian team who celebrated as if they had won the entire tournament.
90 minutes later, the tournament was over for Canada - who face Morocco in the final group stage match on Thursday.
Croatia overcame the initial shock and took control of the match.
It was Andrej Kramaric who stepped into the action with the help of radar partner Ivan Perisic.
The ball was played into the penalty area, where Canada completely missed the mark, and free from a tight angle on the left side, Kramaric made no mistake and made it 1-1.
Just before half-time, Croatia took the lead 2-1 when Marko Livaja received the ball and put it into the goal with a precision shot, after a fine play, a tunnel, from Josip Juranovic.
When Andrej Kramaric scored 3-1, his second goal, the match was decided.
The ball was played in from Ivan Perisic from the left wing, it went all over the penalty area.
Kramaric took the ball down with his right foot and dragged it with him and crossed it to his left and clipped the ball clinically.
Kramaric's ball handling was an exquisite piece of football art.
In added time, Lovro Majer countered to make it 4-1 after coming free alongside new substitute Mislav Orsic who was unselfish and played sideways.
After two straight losses, Canada is now eliminated.
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Here, Croatia's Andrej Kramaric scores two goals against Canada