Panama and Croatia meet at BMO Field on Tuesday, June 23 at 7:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM CT / 5:00 PM MT / 4:00 PM PT, with both Group L sides arriving in Toronto chasing a first World Cup 2026 point after opening-day defeats.
Los Canaleros were edged 1-0 by Ghana on this same patch of turf five days ago — a tight, even contest decided by a single moment. The Vatreni had the rougher MD1: 4-2 down at AT&T Stadium against England, undone by three first-half goals before Martin Baturina and Petar Musa restored a measure of pride. Croatia’s outright price has softened as a result, but the underlying squad is still the more decorated by some distance.
bet365 has Croatia at -188 to win, Panama at +550 and the draw at +300 — a market that reads the Vatreni as clear favorites while leaving room for a Panama side that limited Ghana to a single goal and looked organized for long stretches.
Panama vs Croatia: Best Bets & Predictions
The approach for this one is to ride Croatia’s quality where the price is workable, while leaning into the goals supply that MD1 just demonstrated.
| Our Prediction | Odds & Sportsbook | Confidence | Why We’re Backing It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia to win | -188 @ bet365 (65.3%) | ⭐⭐⭐ | Croatia carry the deeper squad and the better creators; Panama needed 90 minutes of compact defending to keep Ghana to one and still lost. |
| Correct score: Panama 0-2 Croatia | +600 @ bet365 (14.3%) | ⭐⭐ | Panama were blanked by Ghana in MD1 and offer little going forward; a clean Croatia win without the leaky back line from Arlington is the sensible base case. |
| Ante Budimir to score anytime | +120 @ bet365 (45.5%) | ⭐⭐⭐ | The shortest anytime price on the card; Croatia rotated centre-forwards against England and Budimir is the most likely starter against a side that conceded plenty of space between the lines to Ghana. |
| Under 2.5 goals | -110 @ bet365 (52.4%) | ⭐⭐ | Panama played a back five against Ghana and will likely set up the same way; the England game was an outlier for Croatia’s defence and the more recent template is the three-clean-sheet run through Sept-Oct qualifying. |
| BTTS: No | -134 @ bet365 (57.3%) | ⭐⭐⭐ | Panama were blanked by Ghana in MD1 and have leaned on a five-at-the-back shape; Croatia’s defensive issues against England were structural in transition, not a sign the back line gets opened by a low block. |
Our approach: anchor the slip with Budimir anytime and BTTS No, both of which favour Croatia’s quality and Panama’s blunt attack. The Croatia 2-0 correct score is a value add-on; Croatia ML on its own is fine but priced tight.
Odds correct at the time of writing. Please play responsibly.
World Cup Form & Standings
Group L sits 0-0-0 across the four teams after a chaotic opening matchday — Croatia took the heaviest beating, Panama the narrowest defeat, and the second round of fixtures will start to separate the standings out.
| Team | Pos | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
| Panama | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
Potential Match-Winners
- Ante Budimir (Croatia): the focal point of Croatia’s attack and the shortest-priced anytime scorer on the card at +120, with a track record of getting on the end of supply from a midfield that creates volume.
- Andrej Kramarić (Croatia): the experienced rotation option at +125, used as a starter against England in MD1; if Croatia look to refresh the front line he is the next-best route to the same outcome.
- Martin Baturina (Croatia): got on the scoresheet against England in MD1 and looks comfortable in the Number 10 role — Croatia’s most creative midfielder right now and the most likely source of second-phase chances.
- Cecilio Waterman (Panama): Panama’s central forward against Ghana and the one player most likely to give the Vatreni back line a problem on the counter; carried the team’s best chance of MD1 in a 63-minute shift.
Head-to-Head
This is the first competitive meeting between Panama and Croatia at any level — no senior international history exists between the two federations. Group L’s draw paired two sides who have never crossed paths, which makes form and squad depth the only useful read.
Recent Form
Panama — L D D L L
- Jun 18, 2026: Ghana 1-0 Panama (L)
- Nov 19, 2025: Panama 3-0 El Salvador (W)
- Nov 14, 2025: Guatemala 2-3 Panama (W)
- Oct 15, 2025: Panama 1-1 Suriname (D)
- Oct 11, 2025: El Salvador 0-1 Panama (W)
The MD1 defeat to Ghana broke a four-match unbeaten run from the back end of CONCACAF qualifying. The goal-scoring picture is uneven — three at home to El Salvador, three away to Guatemala, but then a 1-1 against Suriname, a 1-0 away win in San Salvador and a blank against Ghana. The bulk of Panama’s scoring has come against the weaker Caribbean and Central American opposition rather than tier-one sides.
Croatia — L W W D W
- Jun 17, 2026: England 4-2 Croatia (L)
- Nov 17, 2025: Montenegro 2-3 Croatia (W)
- Nov 14, 2025: Croatia 3-1 Faroe Islands (W)
- Oct 12, 2025: Croatia 3-0 Gibraltar (W)
- Oct 9, 2025: Czechia 0-0 Croatia (D)
The England defeat was the only loss in Croatia’s last six matches, and it came against the side most likely to top this group anyway. The qualifying picture was healthier — three wins from four in October and November, with the only blemish a goalless draw away to Czechia. The defensive issues in Arlington look more like a one-off mismatch than a trend, particularly with Joško Gvardiol available again.
Panama vs Croatia Prediction
Croatia have the squad, the experience and the most recent reminder of how much they need this result. Panama will set up to make the game ugly, but the gap in attacking quality should tell before the 80-minute mark. A 2-0 to Croatia is the cleanest projection — Budimir gets on the end of one of the chances Modrić and Sučić create, and a Panama side that drew a blank against Ghana on the same pitch struggles to find the equalising route. Croatia 2-0 at +600 with bet365 is the value pick, with Budimir anytime the safer anchor.
Odds correct at the time of writing. Please play responsibly.
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