TORONTO - On a night when Croatia's Luka Modric earned his 200th cap, his teammates made sure it was an evening to celebrate.
Substitute Ante Budimir scored in the 54th minute to lift Croatia to a 1-0 victory over Panama in Group L play at the FIFA World Cup on Tuesday night at Toronto Stadium.
The three points were most welcome for a Croatia side that dropped a 4-2 decision to England in its opener at Dallas.
"I'm very happy that we didn't concede a goal," said Croatian defender Marin Pongracic. "But for sure there's the potential to do better in some situations and to kill the game earlier."
Panama, a 1-0 loser to Ghana last week, was eliminated from knockout-round contention.
After a nifty give-and-go play between Josip Stanisic and Marco Pasalic, Budimir extended his left leg to steer in a cross to the delight of the pro-Croatia sellout crowd.
Thousands of Croatian fans marched to the lakefront venue before the game. Many eventually settled in the southern stands, which were a sea of red and white checkered uniforms.
"We were very happy for that as the 12th man," Prongacic said. "We love the support and are very thankful to them."
Blue and red Panama shirts were featured prominently in the north grandstand on a breezy but glorious summer evening.
Croatia, the world No. 11, was the third-place finisher at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Pongracic, Pasalic and Mateo Kovacic made their first starts of the tournament.
Panama made a change up top with Jose Fajardo slotting in for Celio Waterman. Star midfielder Adalberto (Coco) Carrasquilla remained out with an adductor injury.
Panama had the best opportunity in the early going as a Jose Luis Rodriguez header hit the crossbar in the 23rd minute. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic got a piece of the ball with his left hand.
Replays appeared to show the ball rolled just over the endline before being crossed into the goalmouth.
The Croatian defenders had a hard time with Panama's pace down the wings but did well to clog up the centre to prevent opportunities.
Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera made a diving save near the post on a low strike by Martin Baturina in the first minute of stoppage time.
Croatia had more spark in the second half.
Shortly after the opening goal, Modric sent Pasilic on a break but Mosquera stormed out to challenge. The ball bounced wide and Pasilic kicked the rebound over the net.
Livakovic showed his form moments later. He stopped Amir Murillo on back-to-back strikes before denying Jiovany Ramos, flicking his header over the bar.
Modric came off in the 82nd minute.
"Everyone knows what he means to us," Pongracic said. "He's our captain, he's our leader, and he's the biggest legend of Croatian football."
Panama had a free kick outside the penalty area in stoppage time but Murillo's shot was well off target.
"You cannot win a game if you don't score, but at least the team was not scared," said Panama coach Thomas Christiansen.
At the final whistle, many Panama players dropped to a knee to reflect. Christiansen booted a ball across the pitch in frustration.
鈥淭his was very difficult and I didn鈥檛 expect that it was going to be such a difficult match, to be honest,鈥 Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 react the best, and perhaps it could be due to the pressure because we really needed these three points.鈥
Relieved Croatian players hugged and saluted their fans. Modric, 40, was presented with a special uniform with the No. 200 on the back.
The 2018 Ballon d鈥橭r winner as the best player in Europe, he got a post-game tribute from his teammates after his milestone cap.
Croatia players donned black T-shirts that bore Modric鈥檚 image and read 鈥200鈥 in gold, with the zeros linked to resemble the mathematical symbol for infinity. They took a lap around the pitch together.
The 34th-ranked Panamanians were winless in their lone previous tournament appearance in 2018 at Russia. The team has been training in New Tecumseth, Ont., about a 90-minute drive north of the Ontario capital.
Both teams will head to the United States for their group-play finales on Saturday. Panama will play England in East Rutherford, N.J., while Croatia will take on Ghana in Philadelphia.
This was the fourth of six games to be played at Toronto Stadium. Vancouver is hosting seven games in all, including Canada's group-play finale on Wednesday against Switzerland.
With files from The Associated Press.
This report by 好色tvwas first published June 23, 2026.
