It had been another rainy day in Pennsylvania and with no roof at the Philadelphia Stadium, the risk of 65,000 people in ponchos left feeling miserable was real. Fortunately this predicted dead rubber turned out to be nothing of the kind, and with Luka Modric rolling back the years once again, the memories made were positive.
Related: Croatia 2-1 Ghana: World Cup 2026 – as it happened
Both Croatia and Ghana qualified from Group L on the back of this result. Croatia deserved the three points, thanks two well-hit efforts, first from the man of the match, Petar Sucic, then, in the last knockings, Nikola Vlasic. Ghana, meanwhile, deservedly made the knockout rounds for the first time since 2010, even if Carlos Queiroz poked at his own achievement after the match by calling the expanded World Cup "vulgar".
For Zlatko Dalic there was a balance to be struck. The Croatia head coach was keen not to be seen to be excited by reaching the round of 32. At the same time he wanted to swat at the doubters who, once again, had suggested his side were past it. Ultimately he claimed Modric et all were returning to the levels they achieved in Russia eight years ago.
"I congratulate my players," Dalic said. "It was a difficult match but Croatia played excellently. We are back to where we were eight years ago again. [To qualify] was our first step, now we need to forget it. I have said we looked better in training than in matches, but I believe in the players and they have achieved tonight."
There were questions before the match over what incentive both teams would have to give their all in this game, with a draw almost guaranteed to ensure progress for both sides. But Croatia set out from the start to win, with Dalic opening up the pitch as much as possible to draw the doughty Ghana defence away from where they were most comfortable.
Croatia were dangerous on the flanks thanks to Ivan Perisic, playing left-back here, and lethal from range. The question of why England had not thought to pepper the Ghanaian goal more often did spring to mind, as Vlasic hit the post from range in the 13th minute, before Sucic made the breakthrough on the half hour. Mateo Kovacic smuggled the 22-year-old the ball in the centre of the field, and the Inter man knew exactly what was required of him: he got off a low shot from 30 yards out which went straight through defender Marvin Senaya's legs and crept inside the same post Vlasic had earlier clipped.
The goal did not effect Ghana's status in the competition but it did appear to pique Queiroz's pride. Speaking after the match he said he was sceptical as to whether the expanded format of the World Cup was a good idea, despite it allowing his team to reach the knockout stages from third place in their group.
"It's a coin with two faces", Queiroz said. "I do believe that what really has huge value is what is rare. I never see in my life ordinary things that come with huge value. The number of teams qualifying can turn this competition into a vulgar, ordinary competition. In South America it's already harder not to qualify."
Despite his concerns over the format, Queiroz got busy at the interval. He made a double substitution and Ghana's most attacking spell of the tournament (perhaps a low bar) then followed. In the 73rd minute they earned a deserved equaliser after a free-kick bent in left-footed by Ernest Nuamah, another second-half substitute, was met with no little skill by Derrick Luckassen. The defender, who spent much of the match throwing his body into danger, exhibited surprising deftness as he used the velocity on the ball to turn it low back across goal. After initially ruling the goal out for offside, Drew Fischer of Canada was eventually coaxed to the monitor by the video assistant referee and changed his mind.
That was not the end of proceedings, nor in the see-saw shifts in momentum. With the game ticking into the final 10 minutes, Croatia managed somehow to raise their intensity once more, and driving at goal the substitute Mario Pasalic hit a fierce drive that forced a brilliant save from Benjamin Asare. A corner followed and Modric delivered, his cross reaching the middle of a congested box before it fell to Vlasic who scored with an unerring header.
The goal made Modric the oldest player in history to record an assist at the World Cup and, when Abdul Fatawu danced into the Croatia box in added time it was Modric who took the ball off his toes. His manager was full-throated in his praise afterwards. "Modric was a role model of how things should be," Dalic said. "He is aware that this is his last World Cup and he is trying to do his best to say goodbye."
