While the result completed Croatia's revenge over Turkey for a painful and dramatic defeat in their Euro 2008 quarter-final, it also signalled a likely end of Guus Hiddink's spell in charge of the Turkish national team.
"The possibility is big that this was my last game with Turkey," the 65-year old Dutchman told a news conference after he was asked if he would step down.
"I don't know what will happen next, I want to take some time off to reflect on this campaign and consider my options.
"My age is also a factor and although I am not thinking about retirement, I might prefer a role away from the spot lights as a consultant or an advisor but I haven't made my mind up for the future," he said.
Midfielder Selcuk Inan's cross from the left hit the far post and when the rebound fell kindly for Kazim Kazim, Croatia's goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa kept out the striker's close-range shot with a superb reflex save.
Mandzukic missed Croatia's best chance in the first half when he misfired high and wide from 10 metres after good work by Ivica Olic, who also teed up Srna to shoot over the bar shortly before the interval.
"We knew this was going to be a tough and anxious match for us, especially the opening stages, so we are delighted to have got the job done thanks to a fantastic first-leg performance," said Croatia coach Slaven Bilic.
"We are also aware that we are not better than Turkey by a three-goal margin and that everything worked for us in Istanbul, so we were a bit nervous knowing that we could easily run into trouble if they scored an early goal.
"We are going to Poland and Ukraine with
