Croatia will play Ghana on Saturday in the final group stage match of the 2026 World Cup in Group L, needing a win to advance to the knockout rounds. Before the match, Croatia sits on three points, behind England and Ghana who both have four points each, while Panama has been eliminated [1, 2, 3].
Croatia's recent history against African World Cup teams is positive, recording three wins and a draw since 2014, including their third-place finish over Morocco at Qatar 2022. Veteran players Ivan Perisic, 37, and captain Luka Modric, 40, remain key figures in the squad [1, 2, 3].
On Friday, Croatia lost 4-2 to England but previously managed a narrow 1-0 victory over Panama, with Ante Budimir scoring in the 54th minute. Croatia is under pressure to perform better in their final group match after displaying inconsistency and errors, as highlighted by manager Zlatko Dalic. Dalic said, "We need to raise the level of our play. We're not what Croatia can be. So we haven't shown the best we can, but tomorrow is the opportunity to do so. We never made so many mistakes in some of the passes or when we were in the possession of the ball. This is where we had the force and we were really strong, but we seem to be losing the ball easily. We need to be quicker and we need to raise the level of concentration" [2].
Perisic noted uncertainty about Ghana’s defensive approach, saying, "They are a very good team. Very compact. Perhaps they played the low block in the past two matches. Given that, maybe they might be changing for tomorrow or something, but we have to be ready for both options. But yes, we’re focusing on ourselves and our game and what we need to do. And we need to be a lot better than we were in the past two matches" [3]. He also expressed confidence, recalling Croatia’s positive results against African teams in the last decade: "That's something that we commented on. And we played against many teams in the past 10 years, and all of the results were positive. So I believe that this is going to be the same this time as well, and that we will be playing a very good match, just like we did against the other teams" [1].
Croatia must improve its focus and reduce turnovers to enhance its chances of advancing. The decisive match kicks off today, June 27, setting the stage for the team’s path to the knockout phase [1, 2, 3].
