Croatia 2-1 Ghana Player Ratings: Vlasic's Header Wins It For Croatia Late In The Game To Secure Second Position In Group L

Croatia took on Ghana in their final group stage game of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in a bid to gather all three points to have a smooth qualification to the Round of 32. Zlatko Dalic's men were coming off a 1-0 win over Paraguay, while Ghana played out a gritty goalless draw against Tuchel's England in their last game.

The first fifteen minutes of the game saw neither of the two teams have a shot or a touch in the opposition box, which is a rare sighting in this edition of the FIFA World Cup. The Croatia national football team were more dominant in the game, with Ghana defending impeccably.

Nikola Vlasic hit the post in the 17th minute, which showed the first signs of a team wanting to take the lead in this fixture. The breakthrough finally came in the 31st minute, when Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic slid in a simple pass for Petar Sucic, and the Inter midfielder hit a thunderbolt from some yards out past Benjamin Asare to give Croatia the lead in the game.

The second half started with almost the same script. The Ghana national football team were mostly on the back foot, and looked to hit Croatia on the counter. The Black Stars finally got their goal after an extensive VAR review in the 73rd minute, as Derrick Luckassen scored from a free kick off Ernest Nuamah.

There were more twists and turns left in the game, as Luka Modric's corner found Nikola Vlasic in the box, who nodded it down into the bottom-left corner to put the 2018 World Cup runners-up in the lead once again, just seven minutes before the end of regulation time. Referee checked for a possible offside, but VAR deemed it legal, helping Ghana come back into the game.

Here are the Croatia vs Ghana Player Ratings.

Croatia National Football Team Player Ratings vs Ghana

Check out the Croatia national football team player ratings from the Croatia vs Ghana Player Ratings.

Ghana National Football Team Player Ratings vs Croatia

Have a look at the Ghana national football team player ratings from the Croatia vs Ghana Player Ratings.

Man of the Match

Nikola Vlasic was the man of the match in this FIFA World Cup encounter.

Worst Performer

Benjamin Asare was the worst performer from Croatia vs Ghana.