Croatia was too strong for Italy, wrapping up an 11-6 win to take up a commanding position in their group.
With three wins out of three, Croatia stands top with just the bottom two teams - Kazakhstan and Australia - left to play.
Paulo Obradovic scored two goals, while Damir Buric, Niksa Dobud and Maro Jokovic netted one each in the contest.
Pietro Figlioli and Valentino Gallo scored two each for Italy, while Niccolo Gitto and Alex Giorgetti netted one apiece.
Statistics:
Croatia 4 1 3 3 - 11
Italy 3 1 1 1 - 6
First Quarter_1, Croatia, D.Buric, 6:24. 2, Croatia, M.Boskovic, 3:57. 3, Croatia, S.Sukno, 3:23. 4, Italy, P.Figlioli, 2:27 (PP). 5, Italy, V.Gallo, 1:09 (PP). 6, Croatia, N.Dobud, 0:31 (PP). 7, Italy, P.Figlioli, 0:04.
Second Quarter_8, Croatia, M.Boskovic, 0:35 (PP). 9, Italy, V.Gallo, 0:10 (PP).
Third Quarter_10, Italy, A.Giorgetti, 5:54 (PP). 11, Croatia, M.Boskovic, 5:32 (PP). 12, Croatia, S.Sukno, 3:59. 13, Croatia, S.Sukno, 1:23 (PK).
Fourth Quarter_14, Italy, N.Gitto, 6:15 (PP). 15, Croatia, P.Obradovic, 2:15. 16, Croatia, P.Obradovic, 0:53. 17, Croatia, M.Jokovic, 0:12 (PK).
Exclusions_Italy 13 (A.Perez 2, N.Gitto 2, P.Figlioli 3, A.Giorgetti 2, M.Felugo 2, M.Giacoppo 2); Croatia 14 (D.Buric 2, M.Boskovic 3, N.Dobud 1, I.Buljubasic 2, A.Buslje 3, S.Sukno 1, I.Hinic 1, P.Obradovic 1).
4 Minute Exclusions_Italy None; Croatia None.
Penalty Fouls_Italy 2 (S.Tempesti 1, A.Giorgetti 1); Croatia None.
Ejections_Italy 1 (P.Figlioli); Croatia 2 (M.Boskovic, A.Buslje).
Referees_Gyorgy Juhasz, Hungary; Adrian Alexandrescu, Romania; Lolo Ibern, Spain; Aleksandar Sostar, Serbia; Damien Taylor, Britain; Michael Jukes, Britain; Gus Pinker, South Africa; Marie Deslieres, Canada; Kenneth Fussell, Britain; Duncan Holmes, Britain; Sharon Worthington, Britain; Elaine Hudson, Britain; Chris Charles, Britain.
