Budimir lifts Croatia past Panama in crucial World Cup win

Ante Budimir broke Panama’s resistance in the 54th minute at Toronto Stadium, turning Match 46 of the 2026 World Cup into a 1-0 Croatia win over Orlando Mosquera and the Panama national football team. Josip Stanisic delivered the cross, Budimir, who plays for Osasuna, arrived into the space, and Panama’s long spell of discipline was undone by one precise move.

The match began at 23:00 on June 23, 2026, and carried the weight of a must-win game for both sides. Croatia came in needing to respond after losing 2-4 to England in its Group L opener, while Panama was trying to keep pace in a section FIFA had drawn with England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama. For more than half an hour, Panama stayed compact and organized, forcing Croatia to work the ball wide and wait for a gap that did not appear until the second half.

That opening finally came when Stanisic pushed forward and found Budimir, who closed the move before Mosquera could recover. It was the kind of sequence that changes a World Cup match not through volume, but through timing: one run, one service, one finish, and a defense that had held together under pressure suddenly had no answer. ESPN recorded the final score as Panama 0-1 Croatia, and the result sent Croatia out of Toronto with the points it had needed to reset its campaign.

For Panama, the loss left the team with no points in Group L and a much steeper road through a group already marked by the presence of England and Ghana. For Croatia, the Budimir goal offered more than a narrow victory. After the setback against England, it gave the team a foothold in a difficult section and shifted the tone of its tournament from damage control to survival.