FIFA WC: Croatia beat Panama, keep knockout stage hopes alive
What's the story
Croatia kept their FIFA World Cup 2026 hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Panama in Toronto. The win came after a disappointing 4-2 defeat to England in their Group L opener. Ante Budimir scored the only goal of the match, turning in a cross from Josip Stanisic in the 54th minute. The result also knocked out Panama from contention for the knockout stage.
Near misses
How did the 1st half pan out?
Luka Modric, who was making his 200th international appearance, set up a golden chance for Marco Pasalic. However, the latter's initial attempt was saved by Orlando Mosquera while the rebound went over the bar. Despite their defeat, Panama put up a spirited fight and came close to scoring before halftime when Jose Luis Rodriguez's header hit Croatia's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and bounced onto the crossbar.
Upcoming match
Croatia face Ghana for spot in last 32
With this victory, Croatia has moved up to three points in Group L. They will face Ghana in their final group match, with a spot in the last 32 on the line. Earlier today, Ghana drew 0-0 with England to climb to four points.
Match stats
Here are the match stats
From six attempts, Croatia recorded three shots on target. Panama also managed three strikes on target, but from eight attempts. The winning team had a 58% ball possession in the game. They completed 493 passes with a sensational 83% accuracy. Panama's passes count was 327. Their accuracy was 82%.
Landmarks
Budimir gets to this feat
At 34 years and 336 days, Budimir becomes Croatia's oldest goalscorer in the World Cup, surpassing the previous record set by Ivica Olić against Cameroon 🇨🇲 in 2014 (34 years and 277 days), as per Opta. Modric completed 88% of his passes against Panama (69/78). He has completed at least 80% of his passes in all 19 of his career FIFA World Cup starts.
Information
200 games for Modrić
As mentioned, the game marked Modrić's 200th appearance for Croatia in international football. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (230), Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa (202), and Argentina's Lionel Messi (201) are the only other players to represent their country over 200 times.
Coach's pride
Christiansen proud of Panama's performance
Panama's Danish-born coach Thomas Christiansen expressed his pride in the team's performance against a higher-ranked Croatian side. He said, "You cannot win a match if you don't score," referring to their inability to find the back of the net. Despite being eliminated from the tournament, Christiansen believes this experience will be beneficial for his players in future competitions.