Key Points
- Petar Sucic opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a low drive from outside the box
- Derrick Luckassen equalized from a free kick in the 73rd minute, confirmed by VAR
- Nikola Vlasic headed in the winner from a Luka Modric corner in the 83rd minute
- Ghana advanced as a best third-place team despite the loss, their first knockout round since 2010
Croatia found what it needed in the final group match and got out of Philadelphia with second place. Petar Sucic and Nikola Vlasic scored on either side of Derrick Luckassen's equalizer to beat Ghana 2-1 at Philadelphia Stadium on Friday, settling Group L behind England and pushing Croatia into the round of 32.
How it happened
Sucic took a pass from Mateo Kovacic in the 31st minute and drove a low shot from outside the box past goalkeeper Benjamin Asare. It was Sucic's second international goal since switching his allegiance from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024, and it gave Croatia control of a match Ghana needed at least a point from to guarantee advancement on their own terms.
Ghana restructured at halftime. Carlos Queiroz pushed more bodies forward to support Antoine Semenyo, and the adjustment paid off in the 73rd minute when Luckassen met Ernest Nuamah's free kick delivery and headed it home. VAR reviewed the goal for roughly four minutes before confirming it. For a stretch after the equalizer, Ghana looked like the side more likely to find a second.
That stretch lasted ten minutes. In the 83rd minute, Luka Modric, earning his 201st cap at age 40, whipped a corner to the near post, and Vlasic arrived unmarked to head it past Asare. Vlasic wagged his tongue and ran toward his teammates with outstretched arms. It was the kind of set-piece goal that punishes the team that just spent its momentum getting level.
Semenyo's quiet tournament
Semenyo finished the Premier League season with 17 goals for Bournemouth, third in the scoring charts. He came into this World Cup as Ghana's most dangerous attacking weapon. He leaves the group stage with zero goals from three matches. Against Croatia, as in the goalless draw with England and the late win over Panama, the quality that makes him a Premier League scorer did not translate to tournament football. Ghana will need him to find it in the knockout round if they want to extend a run that started without Mohammed Kudus.
The read
Ghana lost the match but won the thing that mattered more: a place in the round of 32. This is the first time they have advanced past the group stage since 2010 in South Africa, and they did it in a tournament where the expanded 48-team format gives third-place teams a path forward. Losing to Croatia stings, but the four points Ghana collected from the group were enough when the table math shook out. Croatia got the more favorable draw as runners-up. Ghana, as a best third-place finisher, faces the Group K winner. The opponent will be tougher, but the Black Stars are through, and that is the sentence that will carry in Accra.
The knockout run was where it ended: Jhon Arias's goal sent Colombia past Ghana in the Round of 32.
Source: ESPN, FOX Sports
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