The Sports Guru
Croatia and Ghana arrived in Philadelphia both knowing a draw would do, and for an hour they played like it. This covers a 2-1 win that swung Croatia from group winners to third and back to second inside an hour, Nikola Vlasic's decisive header, Luka Modric adding another line to a record book that already reads like a roll of honour, and the knockout ties the night set up.
A draw would have sent both teams through, and for long stretches both teams seemed determined to accept the offer. Croatia and Ghana spent the first half-hour in Philadelphia treating the game like a contract to be signed rather than a match to be won, and then Petar Sucic decided the formality was beneath him. He struck from 30 yards, Ghana eventually struck back through Derrick Luckassen, and Nikola Vlasic settled it late with his head. Croatia won 2-1, finished Group L as runners-up behind England, and did it with a 40-year-old conducting the closing movement.
An arrangement that suited nobody watching
Both sides knew a point would be enough, and the football told you so. Across the opening 15 minutes neither team attempted a shot or had a single touch in the opposition box, the sort of mutual caution that turns a World Cup fixture into a stalemate by agreement. It took 17 minutes for the first effort of any kind, Vlasic curling one against the outside of the left-hand post, the woodwork doing the work the defending had not been asked to do. Ghana had built their tournament on exactly this kind of containment, having shut out England in a goalless draw days earlier, and for half an hour the plan held.
Then it cracked in the simplest way. Sucic collected the ball in acres of space around 35 yards out, took a touch to set himself, and arrowed a low drive into the bottom-left corner. It was the first goal Ghana had conceded all tournament, and it arrived not from a sustained siege but from one moment of room and one clean strike. At that point, with England held 0-0 by Panama, Croatia were not just winning the match. They were topping the group.
Sucic opens, Luckassen levels, Vlasic settles it
Croatia's lead never felt entirely secure, and the table beneath it kept shifting. Jude Bellingham's opener for England, on the way to an eventual 2-0 win over Panama, knocked Croatia down to second while they were still in front in their own game. Ghana then sent them lower still. With 17 minutes left, Luckassen, brother of the Netherlands forward Brian Brobbey, guided in an equaliser that stood only after a lengthy VAR review for a possible foul by Kwasi Sibo in the build-up. For a few minutes Croatia, a goal in front in the second tournament of nowhere, were somehow heading out in third.
It needed an old habit to fix it. On 83 minutes Luka Modric stood over an outswinging corner, Vlasic drifted off the back of his marker, and the header curled in via the inside of the left-hand post. The goal restored Croatia's lead and, just as importantly, restored their second place. Ghana, who had defended so diligently for so long, were undone twice by the two things their afternoon could not legislate for: a strike from distance and a set piece delivered by a player who has been bending them in for two decades.
Modric, at 40, still writing the records
The winner came with a postscript that belonged to the man who provided it. Sky Sports' Dan Long noted that Modric, who turns 41 in September and may be playing his last World Cup before retirement, made his 22nd appearance at the tournament by starting against Ghana, moving him above Diego Maradona and level with Manuel Neuer. Only Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthaus, Miroslav Klose, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paolo Maldini now sit above him on that list. The assist for Vlasic carried its own entry too. At 40 years and 291 days, Modric became the oldest player on record, going back to 1966, to set up a World Cup goal.
There is no pretending this Croatia side carries the threat of the one that reached the 2018 final or took third place in 2022. They were taken to the brink by a Ghana team content to sit in, and they needed a corner and a moment of distance to separate the sides. But a team built around a 40-year-old still keeping company with Messi and Ronaldo in the record books is not a team to be written off in the knockouts, whatever the form line says.
The result rippled outwards. Croatia, as runners-up, go to Toronto to face Portugal on Friday July 3, a last-32 tie heavy with veteran box-office. Third-placed Ghana, rewarded for their resistance with a knockout place of their own, will meet Colombia. And somewhere a long way from Philadelphia, the night carried a quieter verdict: the final whistle confirmed Scotland's exit from the World Cup, the kind of elimination that happens to you in another stadium while you are not even playing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Croatia beat Ghana 2-1 in their Group L match in Philadelphia, watched by 68,324. Petar Sucic put Croatia ahead on 31 minutes with a strike from around 35 yards, Derrick Luckassen equalised for Ghana on 73 minutes after a VAR review, and Nikola Vlasic headed the winner from Luka Modric's corner on 83 minutes. The result sent Croatia through as Group L runners-up behind England, with Ghana qualifying in third.
Croatia's goals came from Petar Sucic and Nikola Vlasic. Sucic opened the scoring on 31 minutes, collecting the ball around 35 yards out and driving low into the bottom-left corner for the first goal Ghana had conceded at the tournament. Vlasic settled the match on 83 minutes, drifting off his marker to head in an outswinging Luka Modric corner via the inside of the post. Derrick Luckassen scored Ghana's equaliser in between.
Starting against Ghana was Modric's 22nd World Cup appearance, which moved him above Diego Maradona and level with Manuel Neuer, behind only Lionel Messi, Lothar Matthaus, Miroslav Klose, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paolo Maldini. By setting up Vlasic's winner at 40 years and 291 days old, Modric also became the oldest player on record, going back to 1966, to provide an assist at a World Cup. He turns 41 in September.
The group order changed several times during the match. Croatia were top while Sucic's goal stood and England were drawing with Panama, dropped to second once Jude Bellingham scored for England, and briefly fell to third when Luckassen equalised. Vlasic's late header restored both the lead and second place. England won Group L, Croatia finished second and Ghana qualified third, with all three reaching the last 32.
Croatia, as Group L runners-up, will face Portugal in Toronto on Friday July 3 in the last 32. Third-placed Ghana, who reached the knockout stage as one of the qualifying third-placed teams, will play Colombia. The Croatia result also had a knock-on effect elsewhere, confirming Scotland's exit from the tournament. Both Group L knockout ties are set, with England having advanced as group winners.
Sources: Final score, venue and attendance, both sides knowing a draw would secure qualification, the goalless opening with no shot or touch in the box inside 15 minutes, Vlasic hitting the post on 17 minutes, Sucic's 31st-minute opener from around 35 yards and it being Ghana's first goal conceded after their goalless draw with England, Luckassen's 73rd-minute equaliser confirmed after a VAR review of a possible foul by Kwasi Sibo and his being the brother of Brian Brobbey, Vlasic's 83rd-minute header from Modric's corner, the live group permutations involving England's result against Panama, Croatia finishing runners-up with Ghana third, the last-32 ties against Portugal in Toronto on Friday July 3 and Colombia, the confirmation of Scotland's exit, and Dan Long's analysis of Modric's 22nd World Cup appearance, his place among the most-capped World Cup players and his record as the oldest player since 1966 to assist a World Cup goal, all as reported in Sky Sports' coverage of Croatia 2-1 Ghana at the World Cup.
