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There wasn’t much open space in Panama’s back line as it tried to keep its World Cup hopes alive.
But just four minutes after Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić subbed on an extra forward in the second half, Josip Stanišić validated his coach’s decision, finding some room on the right and making his move.
Stanišić lifted an exceptional curving cross onto the boot of Ante Budimir, who tapped it into an open net in the 54th minute, lifting Croatia to a 1-0 win on Tuesday night in Toronto.
Croatia remains in contention for the knockout round ahead of its third and final group-stage match against Ghana on Saturday. Panama was eliminated and is still seeking its first World Cup point in two appearances.
“This was very difficult and I didn’t expect that it was going to be such a difficult match, to be honest,” Dalić said. “We didn’t react the best, and perhaps it could be due to the pressure because we really needed these three points.”
Three minutes after Budimir scored, the Vatreni nearly added another goal when 40-year-old Luka Modrić — making his 200th international appearance — passed ahead to Marco Pašalić on a breakaway, but Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera blocked Pašalić’s shot.
“I was quite surprised by the quality (of Panama),” Dalić said.
Modrić, the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner as the best player in Europe, has led Croatia to World Cup finishes of runner-up (2018) and third place (2022). He got a postgame tribute from his teammates after his milestone cap.
Croatia players donned black T-shirts that bore Modrić’s image and read “200” in gold, with the zeros linked to resemble the mathematical symbol for infinity. They took a lap around the pitch together.
“Everybody knows what he means to us,” defender Marin Pongračić said. “He’s our captain, he’s our leader, and he’s the biggest legend of Croatian football, and we are witnessing him, and just him as a person, how humble he is. What a mindset, what a mentality.”
Panama had three straight chances in the 67th minute to knot things up, after Cristian Martinez slid to keep the ball in play in the corner. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković then made a trio of dazzling saves; on the third, he just managed to get a hand on the ball and send it over the net.
“These are the kind of matches where you get the feeling that you’re dominating, that you might score a goal,” Martinez said. “But then they have one chance and they score. These aren’t teams that need much to score a goal.”
Group L will be decided on Saturday, with England and Ghana tied at four points and Croatia with three. England will face Los Canaleros in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while Ghana and Croatia will play in Philadelphia.
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