Croacia and Ghana confirmed their 11 starting players before Sunday’s 23:00 Spanish-time kickoff at Lincoln Financial in Filadelfia, turning a group-stage meeting into a clear test of who could keep moving on. Croacia’s lineup also brought one late twist: Gvuardiol was left out, while Perisic started at left back and Budimir returned after scoring against Panamá.
That matters because Croacia were not just playing for points. They needed a result to stay alive for a place among the best third-placed teams, and a win could even lift them to second in Grupo L. First place was still possible too, but only if Inglaterra also slipped up, which made the math as important as the football.
The search interest around Croatia Vs Ghana is driven by the stakes and the names on the team sheets. Luka Modric again anchored Croacia’s plan, with Queiroz leading Ghana, while Croacia chose Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Vlasic, Kovacic, Sucic, Baturina, Perisic and Budimir from the start. Ghana answered with Asare, Senaya, Adjetey, Luckassen, Mensah, Thomas, Sibo, Owusu, Sulemana, Semenyo and Jordan Ayew, a line-up built to meet Croacia’s possession and movement with a compact shape and pace going forward.
Croacia’s shape also told its own story. Perisic at left back made the side more aggressive on the flank, while Budimir gave them a direct target after his goal against Panamá. Leaving Gvuardiol on the bench showed that Croacia were willing to adjust for the moment rather than lean only on reputation, and that was the real balance of the night: experience in Modric, urgency in the standings, and a coach willing to trade certainty for a better result.
That urgency sits against a bigger recent picture. Croacia reached the World Cup final in 2018 and the semifinals in 2022, so going out early would have felt like a sharp break from the standard they have set. For Ghana, the chance was simpler and harder at once: spoil the script, make Croacia work for every advance, and force the group to be decided on the pitch rather than in the table math.
The next answer comes at kickoff. If Croacia find the result they need, they keep their World Cup story alive and may still climb further; if they do not, the late lineup announcement in Filadelfia will be remembered as the moment the stakes were laid bare before the tournament moved on without them.
