{"id":3899,"date":"2026-06-20T05:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/?post_type=news&p=3899"},"modified":"2026-06-20T05:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:27:15","slug":"match-preview-panama-vs-croatia-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/ca\/news\/world-cup\/match-preview-panama-vs-croatia-world-cup-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Panama vs Croatia: Predictions, Picks, Odds & Stats"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a> point after opening-day defeats.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Los Canaleros were edged 1-0 by Ghana on this same patch of turf five days ago \u2014 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<\/a> as a result, but the underlying squad is still the more decorated by some distance.<\/p>\n\n

bet365 has Croatia at -188 to win, Panama at +550 and the draw at +300 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n

Panama vs Croatia: Best Bets & Predictions<\/h2>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

\n
Our Prediction<\/th>Odds & Sportsbook<\/th>Confidence<\/th>Why We’re Backing It<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Croatia to win<\/strong><\/td>-188 @ bet365<\/strong><\/a>
(65.3%)<\/td>		\u2b50\u2b50\u2b50<\/td>Croatia carry the deeper squad and the better creators; Panama needed 90 minutes of compact defending to keep Ghana to one and still lost.<\/td><\/tr>\n
Correct score: Panama 0-2 Croatia<\/strong><\/td>+600 @ bet365<\/strong><\/a>
(14.3%)<\/td>		\u2b50\u2b50<\/td>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.<\/td><\/tr>\n
Ante Budimir<\/span> to score anytime<\/strong><\/td>+120 @ bet365<\/strong><\/a>
(45.5%)<\/td>		\u2b50\u2b50\u2b50<\/td>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.<\/td><\/tr>\n
Under 2.5 goals<\/strong><\/td>-110 @ bet365<\/strong><\/a>
(52.4%)<\/td>		\u2b50\u2b50<\/td>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.<\/td><\/tr>\n
BTTS: No<\/strong><\/td>-134 @ bet365<\/strong><\/a>
(57.3%)<\/td>		\u2b50\u2b50\u2b50<\/td>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.<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

Odds correct at the time of writing. Please play responsibly.<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Cup Form & Standings<\/h2>\n\n

Group L sits 0-0-0 across the four teams after a chaotic opening matchday \u2014 Croatia took the heaviest beating, Panama the narrowest defeat, and the second round of fixtures will start to separate the standings out.<\/p>\n\n

\n
Team<\/th>Pos<\/th>GP<\/th>W<\/th>D<\/th>L<\/th>GF<\/th>GA<\/th>GD<\/th>Pts<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Croatia<\/strong><\/td>3<\/td>1<\/td>0<\/td>0<\/td>1<\/td>2<\/td>4<\/td>-2<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr>\n
Panama<\/strong><\/td>4<\/td>1<\/td>0<\/td>0<\/td>1<\/td>0<\/td>1<\/td>-1<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Potential Match-Winners<\/h2>\n\n