Budimir's Winning Goal Revives Croatia and Eliminates Panama

24 Jun 2026

Ante Budimir came off the bench to score Croatia's winner in a 1-0 victory over Panama. The result gave the 2018 finalists their first points of the tournament and kept their hopes of reaching the round of 32 alive. Panama's defeat ended their World Cup campaign despite another committed performance. Croatia must now build on a narrow but vital win in their final group-stage calculations.