Croatia sealed their Euro 2016 berth with Tuesday's nervy 1-0 win in Malta which was only enough after Group H winners Italy beat Norway 2-1 to confine the Scandinavians to the playoffs.
For 73 minutes it looked like the Croatians would endure a bittersweet victory as the Norwegians were ahead in Rome, but were in raptures after the Italians, who were already assured of progressing, scored two late goals.
"We were very anxious in the last 10 minutes after the tide had turned our way and I must thank Italy for doing their bit," said Inter Milan player Perisic, who scored Croatia's first-half winner in Ta'Qali.
"We have only ourselves to blame for getting into a situation where our fate wasn't entirely in our hands," he said.
Having made a blistering start to their campaign after winning four and drawing one of their opening five games, it all went sour for the Croatians during a 5-1 home defeat of Norway marred by a racist outburst.
Fans in Zagreb shouted a racist slogan which resulted in a crowd ban for their next home qualifier against Italy, where another racist incident got the Croatians into more trouble.
Home supporters used a chemical agent to imprint a swastika into the pitch at Poljud Stadium in Split days before the 1-1 draw on June 12, prompting UEFA to apply even more drastic punishment.
Europe's football governing body deducted a point from Croatia's tally and ordered them to play their following home qualifier against Bulgaria behind closed doors, with the situation leading to a slump in form.
Coach Niko Kovac was sacked after a 2-0 defeat in Norway followed a 0-0 draw in Azerbaijan as Croatia slipped from first to third in the section.
His replacement Ante Cacic then steered the ship through rocky waters with a 3-0 defeat of the Bulgarians and Tuesday's win in Malta.
Even when Croatia did have support, it was half-hearted with many of their fans unhappy with the governing of the country's football association and its chief Davor Suker boycotted the national team's home games.
Defender Vedran Corluka appealed for unity ahead of next year's 24-nation tournament in France.
"The dressing room is compact but also sad because of all the side-events," he was quoted as saying by Croatian media.
"The national team must not suffer from divisions nor can it be a battlefield for fan discontent with the FA and some individuals.
"The fans belong shoulder-to-shoulder with their national team and I hope they come to France as real support, like so many times before."
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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