Vlasic Late Header Sends Croatia Through as Ghana Clinch Third Place
Match statistics
View Group L fixtures →- Petar Sucic 31'(Mateo Kovacic)
- Derrick Luckassen 73'(Ernest Nuamah)
- Nikola Vlasic 83'(Luka Modric)
- Ivan Perisic 68'
- Kojo Peprah Oppong 90+4'
HT 1–0|Poss 53–47%|Shots 8–6|SOT 4–1
MOTM: Luka Modric
Sat, Jun 27, 2026 • 17:00 (Philadelphia local)
Philadelphia Stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) — Philadelphia
Croatia beat Ghana 2–1 at Philadelphia Stadium to reach the World Cup knockout stage for the third consecutive tournament. Petar Sucic fired in a low strike from Mateo Kovacic's pass in the 31st minute, Derrick Luckassen equalised from Ernest Nuamah's delivery in the 73rd minute, and Nikola Vlasic headed in Luka Modric's corner 10 minutes from time to settle a tense Group L decider.
Zlatko Dalic's side finished with 53% possession, eight shots and four on target to Ghana's six and one in front of 68,324 fans. Luka Modric was named Superior Player of the Match on a night he became the oldest player to register a World Cup assist, while Ivan Perisic and Kojo Peprah Oppong were booked. Ghana's defeat was not enough to eliminate them — Carlos Queiroz's side advance as one of the best third-placed teams.
Croatia finish second in Group L on six points and will face Portugal in the round of 32. England top the group after beating Panama in New Jersey. Ghana qualify as a best third-placed team and meet Colombia, ending Scotland's hopes of progression.