Croatia’s and Panama’s World Cup hopes are at stake tonight when they meet in Toronto.
Luka Modric plays his 200th international match for Croatia tonight when they host Panama in Toronto. The veteran midfielder becomes only the fourth male player to reach the milestone, joining Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Bader Al-Mutawa (Kuwait) and Lionel Messi (Argentina).
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Modric struggled to make his mark on the pitch in the loss to England last week, and will be very keen to deliver a far better performance against a Panama side that lost their opening game to Ghana.
A loss here will make it very difficult for both teams to qualify for the knockout stages.
Team News Croatia
Croatia’s starting eleven (4-3-3): Livakovic – Stanisic, Pongracic, Sutalo, Gvardiol – Kovacic, Modric, Baturina – Perisic, Marco Pasalic, Musa
Croatia’s substitutes: Pandur, Kotarski, Caleta-Car, Jamie, Vuskovic, Erlic, Moro, Vlasic, Mario Pasalic, P. Sucic, Fruk, L. Sucic, Kramaric, Budimir, Matanovic
Team News Panama
Panama’s starting eleven (4-4-2): Mosquera – Blackman, Cordoba, Ramos, Harvey, Andrade – Murillo, Martinez, Rodriguez, Barcenas – Fajardo
Panama’s substitutes: Mejia, Samudio, Escobar, Farina, Davis, Miller, Gutierrez, Carrasquilla, Diaz, Quintero, Godoy, Yanis, Rodriguez, Waterman, Londono
Panama vs. Croatia Key Figures
- Croatia have lost three of their last four games.
- Panama have only won two of their last eight games.
- Panama has not faced European opposition since a goalless friendly against Serbia in 2021.
- These two teams have never faced each other before.
- Croatia’s last meeting with a CONCACAF team was a 4-1 win over Canada in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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