A goal by substitute Ante Budimir in the 54th minute broke the scoreless deadlock against Panama on Tuesday and secured a 1-0 victory for Croatia, keeping its hopes alive of making the knockout round.
The cross from Josip Stanisic on the right side landed in front of Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, who didn’t react to the bounce before Budimir’s left-footed poke in front of a packed house at Toronto Stadium.
Croatia, third-place finishers in 2022 and runner-up in 2018, delivered an underwhelming performance considering its world-class reputation.
Captain and legendary center midfielder Luka Modric, who is revered for his playmaking ability, had a difficult time setting up attacks in the final third of the pitch and creating forward passing lanes. The 40-year-old came out in the 80th minute and was applauded for playing in his 200th match for his national team.
Defender Josko Gvardiol, who plays for Manchester City in the top-tier English Premier League, was substituted in the second half after struggling to contain Panama’s speedy forwards.
Panama put forward several deep crosses in Croatia’s goal area early, but none were precise enough to generate legitimate scoring opportunities. Its best chance of the first half came in the 23rd minute following a cross by Cristian Martinez. Jose Luis Rodriguez connected with a header, but outstretched Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic reached the ball with the tip of his finger, causing it to ding the crossbar and bounce forward and away from the goal line.
Croatia’s best opportunity of the first half came in stoppage time. Martin Baturina took a hard, low strike from distance, but Mosquera arrived at the left post in time to stop it.
Panama played with a sense of desperation in the second half. A sprinting Martinez saved a ball in the corner that nearly crossed the touch line as a tired Croatian defense was on its back foot. A flurry of close-range shots in the penalty box followed, but Livakovic was equal to the attack and made three saves in that sequence.
Panama’s last opportunity was in stoppage time. Michael Amir Murillo took a shot on a free kick from about 25 yards out but the ball went over the net.
Croatia maintained 51 percent of the ball possession, but Panama had eight attempts on goal compared with Croatia’s six.
Zlatko Dalic, Croatia’s coach, said he was “a little bit angry” with his team’s performance.
“We played under a lot of pressure and did not relax,” he said through a FIFA interpreter at the postgame press conference. “We didn’t react the best. We really needed to get the three points to move on to the second stage.”
Dalic said he was surprised by Panama’s quality, speed, and organization.
Panama coach Thomas Christiansen applauded his players, most of whom play domestically or in Latin American leagues, for their stellar defense and offensive pressure against pedigreed opponents who compete in Europe’s top leagues. He hopes some of Panama’s best will be recruited to play overseas.
“These two matches have been a good experience for them, and I hope clubs see potential in them,” he said at the postgame press conference.
Panama finishes Group L play against England in New Jersey, but can’t advance to the round of 32 because of its two losses. Croatia will play Ghana in Philadelphia. Both games take place on June 27.
