Croatia defeats Panama 1:0 at World Cup, England draws with Ghana

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Croatia secured a hard-fought 1:0 victory over Panama thanks to substitute Ante Budimir's goal. On the same night, England settled for a 0:0 draw with Ghana, a result that worried the favourites' fans. Portugal made an impressive start to the evening, crushing Uzbekistan 5:0.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup saw three gripping matches unfold on the night of Saturday, offering spectators a varied mix of comfortable victories and surprising setbacks.

Portugal dominates, England stumbles

The evening opened with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, who convincingly defeated Uzbekistan 5:0. However, England disappointed next, settling for a tedious 0:0 draw with Ghana. The English entered the match as heavy favourites, but failed to produce anything of note in the first 80 minutes. Particularly painful was Harry Kane's chance in the 86th minute, when he had a clear shot from six metres but blasted the ball over the crossbar.

England's concerns deepened with the fact that Ghana reached a more dangerous position in the match's final moments than England itself did, as Prince Adu had an almost one-on-one opportunity with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but took too long before shooting.

Budimir saves Croatia

In the third match of the night, Croatia had to work hard against Panama. The first half ended 0:0, with both sides creating few genuine chances, Panama even being the noticeably more active side for the first 30 minutes of play.

At the start of the second half, Croatia's coach made a surprising decision, substituting out defender Joško Gvardiol and replacing him with a player in a similar position. But this bold decision paid dividends: substitute Ante Budimir scored in combination with Mario Pašalić and Borna Stanišić, delivering the vital 1:0 victory.

Goalkeeper Dominik Livaković was assured throughout, denying Panama's most dangerous attempt, José Rodriguez's header from close range. It later emerged that the ball had gone narrowly over the goal line before the clearance, but Livaković did his job perfectly.

Modrić writes history

The match gained added significance from Luka Modrić's achievement: the Croatian captain played his 200th international match. Only four footballers in history have reached this milestone, before him, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kuwait legend Bader Al-Mutawa. Additionally, this was Modrić's 21st World Cup match, and since his debut in 2006, only Ronaldo (23) and Messi (27) have more World Cup appearances.

The next round of matches will see Colombia face the Democratic Republic of the Congo.