Brave Panama's World Cup fight ends as Croatia stays alive with 1-0 win
Ante Budimir's second-half header gave Croatia a 1-0 win over Panama in Toronto. The result kept Croatia alive in Group L and eliminated Panama from the FIFA World Cup 2026.
by Alan Jose John · India TodayIn Short
- Budimir scored in the 54th minute to settle the game
- Panama got eliminated from the competition after two losses
- Croatia will face Ghana in a straight shoot-out on June 27
A brave fight from Panama wasn't enough as Croatia secured a 1-0 win in Toronto to keep their World Cup knockout hopes alive on Tuesday, June 23. Ante Budimir's 54th-minute strike was the difference in a game that saw Panama give the 2018 finalists a run for their money.
This was Panama's second loss in the tournament by a margin of one goal, meaning that they were eliminated from this year's World Cup. While Croatia did have most of the possession, it was Panama who tested them with 8 shots on goal with Cristian Martinez and others providing a lot of fast breaks during the contest.
PANAMA PUT CROATIA UNDER EARLY PRESSURE
The first half of this Group L fixture was similar to the England vs Ghana game when it comes to the chances created as they were coming at a premium for both teams.
Croatia started off quickly with Luka Modric, who was playing his 200th international game, headed the ball over the goal. While Panama were happy to play on the counter, the pace that they had was frightening especially with Martinez being target and always on the move for side.
Slowly, Panama got into the contest with consistent attacks as Croatia appeared to be under pressure. In the 16th minute, Amir Murillo sent a fine pass into the six-yard box and Jose Fajardo just couldn't make it to convert it.
But the confidence kept growing within the Panama ranks and Dominic Livakovic had to step in to save Croatia. Livakovic is a cult hero for his performance against Brazil in 2022 and he saved Jose Luis Rodriguez's header.
The Croatian boss Zlatko Dalic was frustrated and he made his players know about it. But they still remained under the pump with Pongracic struggling.
Croatia finally got a shot on target in stoppage time as Martin Baturina took aim from 25 yards, and his low strike was turned around the post by Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera.
As the first half whistle was blown, it was Panama who seemed to have al the momentum and was by far, the best team on the field.
PANAMA PUNISHED FOR LACK OF ATTACKING EDGE
When it came to the loss to Ghana, Panama dominated the stats in terms of possession, shots on goal and shots on target. Against Croatia, three of the eight shots that they took were on target. Croatia had three out of six on goal from their attempts.
So, having the cutting edge with finishing was where they struggled during the tournament, which ultimately led to their elimination.
Despite Panama pushing hard, there was no panic from Croatia with the game. They knew they just needed once chance to split the game open for them.
Josip Stanisic had a fine run on the right and fed the ball to Budimir, who made no mistake with his header.
Croatia should have been 2-0 up as Marco Pasalic was at the end of a counter-attack. Pasalic was able to get into the box and tried to dink it. The ball fell to him kindly, and the rebound went well wide
Panama struggled to test Livakovic a lot in the second half, but quickly made amends to it with another set of fine chances. Murrillo tested the Croatian goalkeeper, and Livakovic came out with flying colours, even stopping different attempts.
In the 80th minute, Harvey came close and his shot just bounced off the side nettiing. This is when Croatia went into self-preservation mode and decided to grind out the result in the end.
Panama tried their best to get back into the contest, but the Croatian defence was forcing their opponents to eat up the seconds.
In the end, Croatia showed their defensive class to get the result and setup a shootout between themselves and Ghana for a direct spot in the knockout phase.
Panama will play for pride now and face England on June 27.
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