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26 June 2026

Dalic's winning move decides the match against Panama

Croatia wins 1-0 against Panama in an important World Cup match, with Luka Modric reaching 200 caps for the national team.

Dalic's winning move decides the match against Panama
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Croatia won 1-0 against Panama in a crucial match of the World Cup. It wasn't an easy victory, but in the end the Croatians took home the three points. The match represented Luka Modric's 200th appearance for the national team. The 40-year-old midfielder was obviously started by coach Zlatko Dalic, as were defender Josip Sutalo and striker Ivan Perisic. Even though there was a lot of quality on the pitch, the Croatians were put down in the first half by the Panamanians. There were few scoring opportunities, but the biggest one fell at the feet of José Luis Rodríguez, who hit the crossbar with a header, but goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic managed to deflect the ball before it entered the net. Panama created danger mainly by attacking on the left flank of the Croatian defense, where Josip Gvardiol - the highest paid defender in history - had several difficulties. So, at half-time, Dalic decided to change things with two substitutions: striker Ante Budimir and Andrej Kramaric came on for the second half in place of Petar Musa and Gvardiol. And the substitution proved successful, as after nine minutes Budimir scored the Croatian opener from an excellent cross from Josip Stanisic. Marco Pasalic then had the opportunity to double the lead, but he sensationally missed. Thus the match remained open, but Panama was unable to equalize, also thanks to some excellent saves from Livakovic. Croatia thus gains 3 points in group L and is once again in the running for qualification to the round of 16. For Panama, however, defeat means elimination from the tournament.


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