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Croatia edged Ghana 2-1 in Group L, booking their place as runners-up and confirming Scotland's exit. Petar Sučić got the Vatreni going with a long-range strike in the 31st minute, but Derrick Luckassen hauled Ghana level from a set piece on 73. Then Luka Modrić — still doing Luka Modrić things at this tournament — whipped in a corner that Nikola Vlašić headed home in the 83rd to settle it. For Ghana it's a gut-punch exit; for Croatia it's another knockout round appearance, because of course it is.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Croatia need a win and Ghana are already through — that's an interesting combination. Ghana qualified after holding England to a 0-0 draw, so they can basically treat this as a warm-up for the knockout rounds. Croatia, sitting on three points after beating Panama, need at least a draw to feel safe, and nothing short of a win to avoid sweating on third-place scenarios. One team has nothing to lose; the other has everything to lose. Usually that ends badly for the one doing the sweating.
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2This is the first time these two have ever met at a World Cup. No great historical rivalry, no score to settle — just two sides who happened to land in the same group. What there is, though, is a nicely lopsided dynamic: Croatia are 2018 finalists with serious pedigree and are currently the ones under pressure, while Ghana are the underdogs who've already done the hard work. Football occasionally has a sense of humour.
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3Luka Modric turns 41 next month and just collected his 200th international cap against Panama. That is a genuinely absurd number. He's been playing international football since 2006 — which means he was representing Croatia before some of Ghana's squad were old enough to watch. He's still their best player, still pulling the strings, and if Croatia are going to find a way through Ghana's defensive block, it'll probably start with him.
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4Croatia came into this tournament with Josko Gvardiol missing through injury, which rather blunted their attacking threat from deep — the Manchester City defender had been one of their key outlets going forward. He's reportedly back in contention for this game, which matters because Croatia's route to goal against Panama was a scrappy bundled finish from a substitute. If they're going to break down a Ghana side that kept England scoreless for 90 minutes, they'll need more than that.
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5Ghana's last knockout appearance at a World Cup was in 2010 — the year they famously went out to Uruguay in the quarter-finals after Luis Suarez handled on the line and Asamoah Gyan hit the penalty bar. It is probably still the most talked-about moment in Ghanaian football. Sixteen years later they're back in the last 32, and none of that old heartbreak is relevant to this particular match — but it does mean Ghanaian fans have been waiting a very long time for another run like that one.
Team Talking Points
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1Croatia's tournament ended in the Round of 32, beaten 2-1 by Portugal — a step earlier than the semi-final runs they're used to from 2018 and 2022, but a fair result against a very good side.
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2The signature moment came in their final group game against Ghana: Luka Modric, at 40, became the oldest player ever to register a World Cup assist, setting up Nikola Vlašić's 83rd-minute winner, then blocked a goal-bound effort in his own box in stoppage time to make sure it counted.
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3Modric also picked up his 200th cap for Croatia during the group stage, in the win over Panama — a number very few players in football history ever reach, let alone at a World Cup.
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4Croatia lost their opener 4-2 to England, which looked like trouble at the time, but they responded by beating Panama and Ghana to finish second in the group anyway — the sign of a team that doesn't panic.
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5This was Modric's third World Cup taking Croatia to the knockout stage in a row, and quite possibly his last — at 40, there won't be many more chances. If this is the end of his international story, it's one worth remembering fondly rather than mourning; not many players get to leave a stage still making history on their way out.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Modric's 40, he just became the oldest man to ever set up a World Cup goal, and he still blocked a shot in his own box seconds later — that's not a farewell tour, that's just Modric.
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Avoid saying
"Croatia always overachieve" — true, but say it like it's a compliment about a plucky underdog and any Croatian fan will remind you they've been a World Cup finalist and two-time semi-finalist this century. This is a genuinely good footballing nation, not a fairytale.
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1Ghana's World Cup ended in the Round of 32 on July 3rd, beaten 1-0 by Colombia — Jhon Arias scored inside 14 minutes and Ghana didn't manage a single shot on target for the rest of the match. It's a flat way to bow out, but they'd already done the hard part just by getting there, finishing third in a group with England and Croatia in it.
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2The high point was the group stage itself. A 1-0 win over Panama — settled by a 20-year-old, Caleb Yirenkyi, having the game of his life — and a battling 0-0 draw with England were enough to sneak Ghana through as one of the best third-placed teams, a route plenty of bigger names failed to find.
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3The rough patch was the finishing, or lack of it. Zero shots on target across 90 minutes against Colombia is the kind of stat that follows a team home — not a scandal, just a tournament where the final ball never quite arrived when it mattered.
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4Goalkeeper Benjamin Asare was Ghana's story. A home-based keeper making his World Cup debut, he came in and kept back-to-back clean sheets against Panama and England, with big saves against Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane along the way — the kind of run that gets a domestic-league goalkeeper a much bigger move.
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5Ghana leave with a young goalkeeper who just outperformed his CV, a teenager with a World Cup winner to his name, and a group-stage escape act that's more than most Black Stars sides have managed lately. Building on it is the job now — turning up isn't.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Ghana got out of a group with England and Croatia in it, then didn't manage a single shot on target against Colombia — somewhere between those two facts is their entire World Cup.
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Avoid saying
Don't say "Ghana always play with heart" — it's the laziest compliment in football, mentions no actual player, and any real fan will just wait for you to name one.