Croatia forward Ante Budimir was delighted after scoring the winning goal on Luka Modrić’s 200th international appearance, as they edged Panama 1-0 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, www.aclsports.com reports.
Budimir came off the bench and scored eight minutes after his introduction, securing Croatia’s first win of the tournament.
“It’s fantastic. To come on and, almost in front of a full stadium of Croatians, score the goal that helped us get the victory is something special,” Budimir said after the match. “It’s my first goal in a major competition, my first goal at a World Cup, and of course I’m happy because it helped us start winning.”
At 34 years and 336 days, Budimir also became Croatia’s oldest-ever World Cup goalscorer, surpassing Ivica Olić’s record set against Cameroon in 2014, when he was 34 years and 277 days old.
The forward said Croatia expected a difficult test from Panama, who troubled them with their pace and direct approach, but noted an improvement after the break.
“We knew Panama is a team that plays vertically, that they have very fast individuals, and their goalkeeper and defenders are technically good,” he said.
“They were concentrated, winning second balls and looking for depth. They are ranked 30th in the world for a reason, but in the second half we raised our aggression, got closer to those second balls, and the goal came at the start of the half.”
Budimir also praised midfielder Luka Modrić, who marked his 200th appearance for Croatia, becoming the first Croatian to reach the milestone and only the fourth player to join the 200-cap club alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“There are no words needed because I don’t know how many people in the world have reached 200 appearances for their country. We are grateful to have a captain like Luka, as a player and as a person. We are extremely happy, especially because he gets to celebrate this great day with a great victory. You always enjoy it more when you win.”
Defender Marin Pongračić also praised the Croatian supporters in Toronto, describing them as the team’s “12th man.”
“We have amazing fans everywhere. They are like the 12th man. We love their support and we are very thankful to them,” Pongračić said.
He added that Croatia must continue improving despite the win.
“Our main objective was to win, and I’m very happy we didn’t concede. But there is still potential to improve and kill games earlier.”
Head coach Zlatko Dalić also admitted there is room for improvement after the performance.
“We really have to improve,” Dalić said. “Our game was only half good, especially defensively. We didn’t concede against Panama, but we gave away too many chances. That has to be corrected. I hope this win gives us confidence to be freer and more relaxed, with less nervousness. But if we want a result against Ghana, we must improve in every department, especially defensively.”
Croatia, with three points, will face Ghana next, with hopes of qualifying for the round of 32.
