Group L Croatia v Ghana Venue: Lincoln Financial Field Kick-off: 8 pm Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada) Croatia and Ghana will m
Group L
Croatia v Ghana
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field
Kick-off: 8 pm
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)
Croatia and Ghana will meet for the first time at a World Cup when they clash in a winner-takes-all Group L finale at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, with both nations’ last-32 hopes hanging in the balance.
Group L currently stands with England on four points, Ghana also on four, Croatia on three, and Panama has already been eliminated with none. The permutations leave the two sides with sharply different mandates: Croatia must win to be certain of advancing, while Ghana needs only to avoid defeat to guarantee progress to the knockout stages for the third appearance in five World Cups. The Black Stars in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups progressed to the knockout stage.
Croatia arrived in Philadelphia having recovered from an opening 4-2 defeat to England with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Panama, settled by substitute Ante Budimir’s second-half intervention.
Manager Zlatko Dalic will hand the captain’s armband once again to Luka Modric, who recently made his 200th international appearance and remains the creative fulcrum of the side even at 40 years old.
Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol anchors the backline, though his underwhelming display against Panama has raised some questions ahead of a match Croatia cannot afford to lose.
Ghana, under Carlos Queiroz, have built their campaign on defensive resilience rather than the attacking spectacle they are well known for.
They edged Panama 1-0 thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Caleb Yirenkyi before holding England to an incredible goalless draw despite seeing barely a fifth of the possession.
England manager Thomas Tuchel himself praised it as some of the best defending he had witnessed, and Ghana could feel hard done by not having been awarded a penalty when Ezri Konsa caught Prince Kwabena Adu inside the box.
There is a fitness concern in Ghana’s camp: first-choice goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi has been ruled out for the game with a groin injury, handing continued responsibility to Benjamin Asare, who has kept Ghana’s net clean against England.
Thomas Partey continues to dictate the tempo in midfield, while veteran forward Jordan Ayew and Athletic Bilbao’s Iñaki Williams provide Ghana’s main attacking threats, with Williams in particular capable of exploiting space if Croatia are forced to commit numbers forward.
Most pre-match assessments give Croatia a slight edge on pedigree and attacking quality, with several previews predicting a narrow Croatian win built on patience rather than fireworks against a Ghana side that has scored just once at this tournament.
But Ghana’s record of conceding nothing through two matches, and the fact that a draw alone would be enough, means Queiroz’s side can approach the contest with control of their own destiny — a rare position for an African nation heading into a World Cup’s final group-stage match.
Possible starting XI
Ghana
4-3-2-1
Asare (GK)
Senaya, Opoku, Adjetey, Mensah (DF)
Sibo, Yirenkyi, Partey (MF)
Semenyo, Inaki, (AMF)
Ayew (ST)
Croatia
4-2-3-1
Livakovic (GK)
Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol (DF)
Modric, Kovacic (DM)
Pasalic, Baturina, Perisic (AM)
Musa (ST)
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