Croatia Beats Panama 1-0, Eliminating Group L Rival
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Jun 24
Croatia Beats Panama 1-0, Eliminating Group L Rival
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jun 24
Summary
Ante Budimir’s second-half tap-in gave Croatia a 1-0 win over Panama, keeping Croatia’s 2026 World Cup hopes alive and knocking Panama out after two matches.
Josip Stanisic created the winner with a cross to the far post, and Croatia then withstood late Panama pressure in a tight, cagey game.
Panama are eliminated after back-to-back 0-1 defeats, leaving them unable to reach the knockout stage from Group L.
Group L remains open because England were held by Ghana earlier, leaving both of those teams on 4 points ahead of Croatia’s final match against Ghana.