Panama vs Croatia Preview

Tuesday’s late Group L fixture at BMO Field sees Panama take on Croatia, with both sides already facing an uphill battle after defeats in their opening matches against England and Ghana. With both nations sitting bottom of the group on zero points, this represents a genuine must-win scenario for whoever wants to keep their qualification hopes realistic.

Panama’s tournament opener ended in a 1-0 defeat away to Ghana on 18th June, a narrow result that leaves them with no points despite a competitive display. Prior to that, they drew 1-1 at home to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a warm-up friendly. Before that, a 4-2 home win over Dominican Republic. Earlier in this run they lost 6-2 away to Brazil, and in their oldest result here they won 2-1 away to South Africa. Los Canaleros have shown they can score goals when their attacking players click, but defensive consistency has been a recurring issue throughout this run.

Croatia’s World Cup bow brought a 4-2 defeat away to England on 17th June, an entertaining but ultimately costly result against the group’s form side. Prior to that, they beat Slovenia 2-1 at home in a friendly. Before that, they lost 0-2 at home to Belgium. Earlier in this run they were beaten 3-1 away by Brazil, and in their oldest result here they won 2-1 away to Colombia. The Checkered Ones still possess significant individual quality through their experienced midfield, and they will need to find defensive solidity quickly against Panama.

There is no previous meeting on record between these two nations, making this the first-ever fixture between Panama and Croatia.

Both sides sit bottom of Group L on zero points, with Croatia’s goal difference of -2 the worse of the two compared to Panama’s -1. A win for either side here would move them to three points and keep alive a realistic hope of qualification heading into the final round, while a draw would leave both nations needing a positive result against England or Ghana to have any chance of progressing.

In the UK, this match is live on BBC One and available to stream via BBC iPlayer. In the United States, viewers can watch on FOX Network or fuboTV. Panamanian fans can follow the action on TVN Panama or Telemetro, while Croatian viewers can tune in on HRT 2 or MAXtv To Go.

Possible Lineups

Panama (3-4-3) Mosquera, Córdoba, Andrade, Murillo, Ramos, Harvey, Bárcenas, Martínez, Rodriguez, Blackman, Waterman

Croatia (3-4-2-1) Livakovic, Vuskovic, Sutalo, Stanisic, Sucic, Modric, Baturina, Gvardiol, Perisic, Pasalic, Musa

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Group L Table

Pos	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	England	1	1	0	0	4	2	+2	3
2	Ghana	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	3
3	Panama	1	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0
4	Croatia	1	0	0	1	2	4	-2	0

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Panama Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Ghana	1-0	Panama	World Cup	18.06.26
🤝	Panama	1-1	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Friendly	06.06.26
✅	Panama	4-2	Dominican Republic	Friendly	04.06.26
❌	Brazil	6-2	Panama	Friendly	31.05.26
✅	South Africa	1-2	Panama	Friendly	31.03.26

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Croatia Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	England	4-2	Croatia	World Cup	17.06.26
✅	Croatia	2-1	Slovenia	Friendly	07.06.26
❌	Croatia	0-2	Belgium	Friendly	02.06.26
❌	Brazil	3-1	Croatia	Friendly	01.04.26
✅	Colombia	1-2	Croatia	Friendly	26.03.26

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Head-to-Head

No previous meetings on record between these two nations.

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TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Great Britain	BBC Sport Web, BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live
Ireland	RTE 2, BBC Sport Web, BBC One, RTE Player, BBC iPlayer
USA	FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo
Panama	TVN Panama, Telemetro, Tigo Sports Panama
Croatia	HRT 2, MAXtv To Go, HRTi
France	beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT
Germany	SRF zwei, MagentaTV
Australia	SBS, SBS On Demand
Canada	TSN1, TSN+, RDS
Italy	DAZN Italia