Croatia piled pressure on England's World Cup hopes with a nervy 1-0 victory over Panama in their Group L clash on Tuesday. The win gives Croatia a crucial three points and eliminates Panama from the tournament, ahead of their final group-stage match against England.
The match was a physical midfield battle, with both teams going toe-to-toe. Panama gave Croatia plenty of scares in the opening period with their pace down the wings, but they were unable to find a way past the Balkan side's organised back line.
Croatia finally found a way past Panama's defence in the second half when Marco Pasalic played a clever backheel to Josip Stanisic, who swung a cross into the box that Ante Budimir guided home to put Croatia ahead.
The victory was a sweet finale on a special night for 40-year-old Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, who made his 200th international appearance and was thrown in the air by his teammates to mark the achievement.
While Panama have been eliminated, they still have a lot to play for in their final group-stage match against England. The result has piled pressure on England to perform well in their final match, and they will need to win against Ghana in their final group match on Saturday to progress to the latter stages of the tournament.