A tough opening match at the World Cup against strong opposition. Jude Bellingham’s early goal in the second half really swung the game and took the momentum away from us, and from there the second half was just poor overall.
Dominik Livaković — 8/10
Man of the match. Without him this game could’ve ended 8–2, he made some unbelievable saves to keep us in it and basically saved us from a much heavier scoreline. Unlucky with the penalty situation as well. VAR has ruined football at times, it’s ridiculous to be that strict over something like a 1mm movement.
Martin Baturina — 7.8/10
Best attacking outlet. Confident on the ball, scored a great goal, and just looks ready. The future number 10 for our Vatreni when Luka retires.
Petar Sučić — 7.2/10
Solid first World Cup game. Not perfect, a few mistakes here and there, but overall really composed. Him and Baturina look like they’re going to dominate our midfield in the future.
Ivan Perišić — 7.1/10
Still performs for us when it matters. That assist to Musa was beautiful and he continues to deliver experience, energy and quality.
Marco Pašalić — 7/10
Added energy and directness off the bench. Honestly needs to start, everyone wants it.
Petar Musa — 7/10
Worked hard and scored in his home state of Texas. Needs to start against Panama and get the ball to him more because he’ll cause problems if you actually use him right.
Mateo Kovačić — 6.5/10
Had his moments on the ball and looked comfortable in midfield given his lack of minutes this season.
Josip Stanišić — 6.2/10
Put in a shift, got forward at times, but defensively the back line was too open. Kept Anthony Gordon fairly quiet on his side, but still part of a defence that struggled overall.
Mario Pašalić — 6/10
Struggled to make an impact, don’t really know why he’s starting.
Luka Modrić — 6/10
That penalty he gave up really ruined the start of the match for us, but he still tried to control things and get us playing. Just wasn’t his night overall. We shouldn’t be worried. He’ll be back.
Luka Vušković — 5.5/10
Tough first big game at this level. Some good moments, but a few mistakes too. Also becomes Croatia’s youngest-ever World Cup player.
Joško Gvardiol — 5.5/10
Looked off today and not fully fit. Just didn’t dominate like he usually does.
Josip Šutalo — 5.5/10
Struggled throughout. Looked unsure and never really settled.
Andrej Kramarić — 5.7/10
Not really enough time to judge him properly, but feels like he should’ve been involved earlier.
Nikola Vlašić — 5.7/10
Short cameo, brought a bit of pace and directness. Came on too late to really get involved.
Igor Matanović — 5.5/10
Didn’t make enough runs or offer enough up front.
Overall, a frustrating opening game at the World Cup, especially with how it got away from us after a decent start. England took control after the break and we never really recovered, but there were still positives in terms of young players stepping up and showing they belong at this level. Not the result we wanted, but there’s still a lot to build on going forward, and no reason to panic.
Mistakes and some bad luck cost us. Luka’s foul for the PK was weak. He didn’t even see the player making a play for the ball but letter of the law says it’s a foul and PK. Liva’s foot being 2 inches off the line for a retake is what it is. If it’s any saving grace, Gvardiol was in the box well before the box was struck so even if Liva’s foot was on the line, there still would have been a re take.
How do we leave Kane unmarked on a corner?? Isuse.
I don’t get the Mario Pasalic hate. I’d agree he isn’t the most dynamic player, but his hockey assist on the Musa’s goal was perfectly placed. Even on Bellingham’s goal, he was backtracking and pressured Bellingham’s shot (which was a bit lucky as he scuffed it and it went off the post and in). Where was Gvardiol? Why did Vuskovic not close in on Bellingham once he saw him beat Pasalic? Those two were a bit of a mess.
Playing Mario Pasalic wasn’t the reason we lost. The above ratings gave him the same score as Luka? That’s a bit harsh. As much as it pains me to say it, Luka looked awful out there and looked his age. Really hoping it’s a one off and he bounces back for the next game. Gvardiol was bad. Vuskovic wasn’t great either.
im going doomer, but even our young guys dont have the pace to keep up with ghana and panama. were dropping points and not getting out of this group. there is not enough fight in this team. i’d love to be proven wrong but I didn’t see a lot of hope for a deep run in this match.
We have strong young attacking players.
That is the biggest take away.
We can actually make a generational shift in a tournament as opposed to waiting till the Fall.
Let the young studs take on Panama.
We can all say should’ve could’ve
But 3 at the back was never the answer
Musa
Perisic baturna Marco Pasalic
P sucic Modric
Stanisic. Gvardiol vuskovic. Jakic
Should’ve..
I am concerned england will deliberately get a draw with ghana to kill us to 3rd spot. They are trying to eliminate the dark houses and powerhouses as much as possible. As a result we need a win against ghana to secure 2nd spot.
Doubt it. They will want to win. It’s unlikely they will deliberately go for a tie.
3rd spot in our group with 3 points and the right GD to get through is the play now. It is a much favorable draw if Colombia win their group. 2nd place in our group will have to go through Portugal and Spain to reach the quarters. Crazy.
Thankfully we are just shitty enough to pull off 3rd. Small mercies.
So they would need to get a high goal average against Panama is my understanding.
But I think they still need to aim to win both games. There are a lot of draws in different groups right now. Does that still affect us?
they already deciding who they beating in the final the poms
Maybe we can try a back line of:
Stani – Gvardiol – Vuskovic/Sutalo – Jakic
Can someone please tell me the last time Josip Sutalo played a good game for his Croatia. Highly overrated player.
Like Maminjo said, I will agree here, Dalic’s seniority rules is the problem. What I saw in this game was the impact that the younger players had in the game against one the the favourites in this tournament. Namely Musa, Baturina, and even Marco Pašalić. Why was Mario Pašalić picked to start?? I simply don’t understand this decision by Dalic. I am not suggesting he is bad player but he is not a solid starter. He is more of a useful substitute and that is where he has the most impact in a game.
I said that I was worried about Perišić being the only one to drive the attack on the left side, but thankfully Baturina is on fire. Baturina was the next best player to Livakovic. I still think that both Perišić and Marco Pašalić need to start in the same game.
Whatever negatives I had toward Livakovic in the past are completely gone at this stage. He was absolutely phenomenal in this game despite the goals. Best player for us by far.
Šutalo has not been good for us for a while. Why Dalic calls players up that are not in form instead of taking younger players that are performing well is beyond me. Plus we have players on the squad that are bench warmers. Is Erlic the better option, or should Stanišić have been at the back this whole time? Is Camera Car a better option. It’s too late to tell now.
Marco Pašalić sitting on the bench was just nuts. Arguably if Stanišić was in that back three with Pašalić on the wing, things could have been different. That’s a big maybe. Mario Pašalić didn’t seem to make an impact either offensively.
We had a very terrible backline and I was saying before, that we needed a back 4 and it turns out I was right here. We do not have the capacity to play a back three against this kind of opposition.
I will say it again it needs to be a 4-4-2. We have a lot of players that can play a supporting striker. This provides enough defense for us. There is also enough support in the middle. Perišić and Marco Pašalić on either side.
Petar Musa — 7/10
Worked hard and scored in his home state of Texas. Needs to start against Panama and get the ball to him more because he’ll cause problems if you actually use him right.
?
Firstly, no clue why Maminjo including him as a “young gun” – he’s already 28
His goal was nice and it was beautiful to see him over-come with emotion
But
HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 2ND AND 3RD GOALS
2ND GOAL – Harry Kane was his man to cover in the corner – Stanisic told him to go cover him – he switched off and didn’t bother – and Kane got the free unmarked header – 1000% it’s Musa’s error – watch it again
3RD GOAL – Musa was strolling to close down Kane – who received a pass and passed it downfield (for the 20th time in the game) – Kane should never have been allowed to get that pass off in the first place – it was Musa walking over to “cover” him – Musa never got there – Kane was free – and then we have the mess at the back – watch it again – again it’s 1000% Musa’s laziness that allowed Kane free reign to get that pass off to begin with
Musa also didn’t do any pressing – it was poor Pero playing “RW” – needing to press the entire back 4 and keeper lol
But that’s what you get with an MLS player – in the MLS he doesn’t have to press – he can just stroll around – and I’ve never seen an MLS goal from a corner EVER so they probably don’t practice them or have any clue how to defend them
Igor wasn’t much better when he came on – just body-checking and causing fouls
Perisic – outstanding
Liva – over-rated – many of the saves were easy as the ball was hit right at him (e.g. Bellingham shot, that double save) – the Declan Rice save was good – but the rest were right at him – so yeah he should save those – he should know to stay on his line and not get put off by a little stutter steps and cause a penalty re-take – 3rd goal his angle was terrible
Modric – a shadow of himself – the game went right by him
Sutalo – thought he did well (and you know I’m not a fan) – there was one play in the first half when Madueke crossed it in – behind Vuskovic (who switched off) – and it was a perfect play by Sutalo to prevent Jude from scoring an easy one
Stanisic – completely shut down 100m Barca Anthony Gordon – and was good going forward
Josko – still not fit
Baturina – wonderful goal – wanted to see more from him – he didn’t really grab the game by the scruff of the neck and IMPOSE himself – was a bit timid – in the first half beyond the goal – can you think of anything else he did ? Frustrating as he has more in him to give
Mario – that pass to Perisic was sublime – perfectly decoyed – perfect weighting – perfect trajectory – perfect placement – everything was perfect – if that was Luka Sucic who have one pass like that the whole game Maminjo would be telling us about it over and over again for the next decade – I thought he was serviceable in midfield – he certainly had more impact than Modric, objectively speaking – I was surprised he kept up with Jude so well on that 3rd goal (why was he even there – where was Perisic or Gvardiol) – Vuskovic made a poor decision not to join Mario and go 2 v 1 and try to tackle him way before he reached the goal
Good break down.
Agree with most of this.
It pains me to admit I agree with most of your breakdown anonymous
Too many here are over the top negative. Way too tough on our team, and brutal on individual players, including Luka Modric who after more than 20 years, and nearly 200 caps, deserves a little more generosity and respect from Croatian football fans. Respect our brother Luka.
Anonymous has taken an appropriately balanced view. A very good post.
We are playing the fourth best team in the world, from a country that has more than 15 times our own population, whose starting lineup up has a collective market value of 700 million Euros.
And yet, if memory serves, it was 2-2 at half time, with England looking unsettled as they left the field at the half. In the 75th minute Marco Pasalic made a good move, and with a little luck could have made it 3-3.
It was a one goal game until the 85th minute. We gave that fourth goal up, in part, because we were pressing for the tie. It happens. In hockey they basically call that an empty net goal.
But the reaction here is such that one might have thought we took a 7-0 beat down, and had been knocked right out of the tournament.
If anyone expects we are going to be coasting to nothing but wins at this level, then you have to rein in your expectations a little.
A reminder: we are very much alive in this tournament.
Any battle at this level is going to have ups and downs. We can absorb a loss in the group stage and learn from it.
I saw many good things, even great things to take away.
We pressed them early.
Then England got a flukey penalty never to be repeated by Luka, and then got not one but TWO penalty kicks, on the narrowest of calls, to take their 1-0 lead. Talk about getting a break! They got very lucky to get that kind of momentum builder.
Our first goal . . . saw our three youngest stars, who all worked hard in their first ever World Cup game, combine for a fantastic goal that tied the game 1-1. Vuskovic with great anticipation, 19 years old against a world class team, challenged for the ball as he intercepted a pass, then to Baturina and Sucic . . . what a play, with Baturina unloading a wicked blast.
To watch those three youngsters step up and answer England to tie it 1-1. Wow. No one was mentioning any of them at Euro 2024. And yet there they were, a fantastic effort. Beautiful goal.
Dalic gave them all the start. A good decision on his part, not just for this tournament but with an eye to the future. All three of them should—and will—get even better as this tournament goes on.
On the second England goal, there was just enough interference on Vuskovic that he didn’t get his head on the corner kick. The English player had both hands on him and nudged him just enough that he did not get his head on the ball. Had it been our goal, the call might have gone the other way. Call it a technicality, but it looked like material interference not off to the side but right on the play for the ball. I’d like to see it again in slow motion.
Overall, Stanisic was very good. He was a force out there. Perisic, after what he did to his knee two years ago, was sublime at 37. A warrior. A legend. Livakovic stopped Harry Kane’s first penalty kick and was sharp.
Kova looked like he was rounding into form. Gvardiol is going to need one more game or two. And that is exactly what we will have before the knockout stage starts, if everything comes together.
I thought Sutalo was fine. I didn’t see any disaster there. Modric will be better.
That last goal saw England almost have a five on one. So we need to tighten up defensively. There will need to be some adjustments. Dalic will know what needs to be corrected, and veterans Modric, Perisic, Kova, Krama, etc will give the team stability and calm as we get ready for the next game.
Many of our mates here will be in Toronto: DannyJ, Slavonac, I am sure gbvh will be there, he is from that area, and many others . . . C’mon guys, get that place rocking in TO! The chanting Croatian fans have to be on their feet, turn it into a home game, rally the team, build some momentum, a win will change how everyone is feeling and then it comes down to a one game showdown with Ghana.
I like our chances.
Oolombia 3 -Uzbekistan 1 Colombia flying.
Colombia are our likely opponents if we get out of this group are they? Maybe we should be looking at who we play if we finish third is my thought tho.
could be Portugal.who drew with Congo this earlier.
great, 2016 all over
I sometimes think if we didnt have Liva we would be a very average Euro side
I find maminjo funny
He’s actually very sharp and well informed in many things
But at heart he’s still a homer in the end
Deep run? In what world is deep run the base line?
Croatia has a solid team but a deep run still remains a tail outcome rather than a median outcome based on the talent just like it was in 18 and 22
Bad result for us with Ghana winning 1 – 0 against Panama with a stoppage time goal. Draw would have been better for us.
Both teams are physically stronger and quicker than us, especially Ghana and that will be a problem for us if Dalic plays 3 at the back again.
Cannot believe that Dalic started experimenting with three at the back months out from the start of the WC. I thought that he was a fairly predictable coach who was going to stick to tried and tested. Instead of trying to fit Vuskovic in 4 at the back formation he changed the team formation and tactics to suit one player.
To play 3 at the back you need three reasonably quick CB’s especially the central defender who has the responsibility of going across and correcting any mistakes on the flanks.
With the England third goal, yes you can blame Gvardiol and Mario Pasalic however you have to ask where was Vuskovic ?
19-year-old Vuskovic has great potential, however he lacks experience at international level. His positional play is not the greatest and he is just about our slowest CB.
Gvardiol has lost a lot of muscle bulk due to his injury and is way below his best.
It would have been nice if had one or two genuine full backs in the squad.
I think the problem is there is not enough Aussies on our team, bring on Seg lol
Just saw Ghana get a 94th minute winner too or whatever. Even worse for us. If those two fuckers had drawn that would have been some relief but nope. Anyway i can see us struggling to beat both Ghana AND Panama at this rate.
This is the risk you take when you have three defenders at the back. Especially in an opening game against a team like England for the first time. Croatia took risks and pressed a lot which created chances and two beautiful goals. However, it bit them in the ass with our horrendous defending.
This is what happens when you conceded first always and chase games. You will never win. No effort by our back line whatsoever. Caught in lala land for all the goals but the penalty.
Move on and start learning from the mistakes. If we don’t win against Panama or score first, I think it will be an early exit and lots of questions and a dark future.
Dalić shuffles the lineup and it wasn’t his fault our defence were sleeping. The only players fang stood out were Liva, Stani, Baturina, Musa and Sucic. Everyone else should have a long hard look in the mirror with that effort. Don’t disappoint me in Toronto.
Gentlemen of this forum , tell me how in the holy heck that Fruk, Moro, or Vlasic would have helped us at 3-2.
Really . Tell me how .
As I said , Stojkovic , Segecic and Ivanovic should have been there and tbh , maybe even Petkovic , but it’s all about family and this gluposti.
I’m tired of Dalic . I want him to go , please . If we had lost 5-0 maybe he would have , like the Tunisia coach .
That being said , I do think we will beat both Ghana and Panama and crash out with any opponent we meet in the knockouts .
Sad way to end things , especially for the old timers , but I do blame Dalic , and his staff, for eveything.
Guys , deer in headlights . Did you see olic and corluka. Had NO IDEA what to do at 3-2. NO FREAKING IDEA.
However , if they had some wild cards (like the 3 fastest Cro footy players !), they would play that hand .
What a s***Show
Disagree with the rankings. Liva was a 10 everybody else was a 5 or less. Mario Pasalic how can you give him a passing grade? He was 0.5 and should have been given papers to enter a trade school. That got was bloody awful. You forgot to rate the coach. That imposter deserves a bus ticket to Halifax and then a row boat to get home. Worst performance you can imagine .
England 22 overall shots ,11 on target ,Livakovic is the mantus if there is one good thing ,we have a good keeper,now he deserves some.guys that will help.protect him.
I dont share the positivity.
We are FUCKED.
We cannot defend at all. Ghana even are gonna be too fast for us. Just wait we’ll see some Ghanian running thru 1 on 1 with a keeper after 1 simple long ball exactly like Bellingham today. Always the same story, the opponent just needs one long ball and we’re fucked.
Remember Euro 2024, Albania hit one long ball after another and repeatedly got one-on-ones with Liva; it was fucking embarrassing. Looks like nothing has improved.
Will the positivity comes from the fact that Musa has a good game and it looks like our young midfielders are legit.
So, now we don’t have to struggle to figure out who we start on offense.
The backline can be improved with four at the back, plus I assume Gvardiol will not have such bad games as he rounds into form.
Dalić might still f us over by glueing Marco P to the bench, but we should still be able to handle Ghana and Panama.
Yes I am not optimistic either. It was nice to see some offensive creativity which we lacked in the past but had a solid midfield and defense. Today our defense was horrific, made England look like some offensive team which they are not even known for. Since when did England ever score so many goals in a major competition?
I didn’t think Ghana or Panama looked good at all today, very chaotic, so I’m hoping we can pull off a win.
How you give Modric 6 lol
Guy was worst player in the World Cup so
Far. Modric 0
Mario pasalic sucked besides nice pass 5
Vuskovic should be a 4 that third goal reminding me of why vuskovic is a limited player. I thought he was supposed to be our saviour for corners and set pieces.
Sutalo amd stanisic were our best defenders
Baturina by far best player should be a 9
Vlad, you are so right.
Let’s not judge Luka too fast though . Something was off . I don’t know what .
My biggest concern is Vuskovic . I mean , I am beside myself at how bad he was .
Im no football coach but that second half had some.of rhe worst defending ive ever seen from a Croatian national.team,Livakovic ,deserves some sort of Croatian award for what he managed to do, remarkable, Shitalo and.co. maybe need a bit of a rest and lets see what other guys can do
First half was Croatia advantage … giving up that goal to start the second half hurt – dalic went for it and i tip my hat to him- positive showing , let’s get out of the group and figure out the strategy in the process
You tip your hat to him?
Dalić started the wrong Pašalić (AGAIN) and it cost us.
How many tournaments games do we need to sacrifice as a grace period for the retard to finally get it?
I give him credit for starting Musa, but Mario Pašalić is one if the last guys you play in a match like this.
Modrić and Gvardiol let us down, but Dalić didn’t help us either.
The second I saw Mario Pašalić’s name in the starting eleven, I knew we were going to lose (it was just a matter of how much).
Thankfully, Dalić started BATURINA (who is our actual best player, yet is still a questionable start in Dalić’s eyes) and our young guns (Baturina, Sučić, Musa) led the way for us.
I was hoping to see Luka Sučić come on, but of course he didn’t because he doesn’t have the “seniority” that guys like Vlašić has (which cost us another goal).
The silver lining in this game is that we at least now know that Baturina, Petar Sučić and Musa should be unquestionable starters for the full 90 minutes.
We need Modrić and Gvardiol to play at the level that they can, and we should be more than good enough for a deep run.
At this point, Coach Dalic has to realize that the back 4 is our best bet. It will keep it low scoring, but we have to accept who we are. I am just worried now as in the three World Cups where we lost first game, we didn’t advance. Maybe the third place advancement takes the pressure off. On that third goal Vuskovic backed off on Bellingham. Perhaps call it inexperience, but it was a decisive play for a 19 year old. I have been loyal to Coach Dalic for 9 years and it is not stopping now. Hopefully, we recover with a big victory on Tuesday.
Your loyalty is justified.
A second and a third in successive World Cups is a record that one would think speaks for itself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to.
Thus, your posts and voice over the years have been very necessary.
Agree about Mario Pasalic and I feel sorry for the guy because Dalic always plays him out of position.
Luka Sucic went to Qatar WC and did not get a minute, could be the same for this WC ?
100 percent .
Pasalic, Mario is not a starter for us. Period .
Marco should have started absolutely .
I predicted this . Gvardiol and his future contracts and stupid skydiving and IG posts . It’s all a show .
Maybe Vuskovic too. Quite possibly a move to Barcelona and just don’t exert yourself .
I have more faith in pongracic , DCC and Erlic .
And Luka Sucic
Your right about Pasalic, when I saw Mario was starting , I hoped it was a mistake and he meant Marco – I’m talking more along the lines of dalic opened up and asked to see who’s willing to bring it ..
I was there, haven’t re-watched yet- but I was encouraged from the first half
Mario should never start on the wing – period
Assumed set pieces would be our strength on both defense and offense. Seems like this is a very correctable weakness, which can be addressed by focus and effort going forward. This seems to be an issue that can be addressed successfully immediately.
Wow that’s rough on Vuskovic lol.
Nice recovery.
I would love think by mathematics a draw for the other 2 in our group would be good
Who gives a crap about player ratings when we just got pumped
another thing, I see so many mention on here…
with a back 4, something like today’s defense performance would be much less likely to happen right?
if so, easy fix- go back to the familiar Croatia way
Maybe Dalic felt the back 3 vs England was our only chance, who knows
what you guys think is best Panama Ghana result for us? 0-0 at half
I think so
If we win out it’s fine we secure 2nd easy
4 points should be more then fine
Hoping England just goes and pumps the other two now
You forgot Luka Vuskovic. I didn’t think he played well. I put part of the blame on him for Bellingham’s goal. I know Vuskovic was trying to cover the England player running up the middle. But it was clear Bellingham had run by the other Croatian defender (I don’t recall who it was) — Vuskovic needed to close out Bellingham at that point. Overall, tough World Cup debut for him. But he’ll be the better for it (just like Gvardiol was after he had a rough debut in the Euros in 2021).
Where are the Dalić glazers now?
How much longer are people going to defend a coach who keeps making the same mistakes over and over again?
He went with a back three yet again, despite the fact that anyone with functioning eyes could see throughout the recent friendlies that the system simply wasn’t working. Croatia looked poor, exposed defensively and, for the most part (especially in the 2nd half), completely toothless going forward. We saw exactly the same thing today.
The worrying part is that this isn’t new. Dalić made many of the same mistakes at the last Euros with wrong lineups, wrong formations, questionable subs and subs that often came far too late. Those mistakes contributed to a disastrous tournament and yet here we are again, watching the exact same movie.
This is a coach who never seems to learn. He doesn’t adapt. He doesn’t make meaningful adjustments. Instead, he doubles down on ideas that clearly aren’t working and Croatia keeps paying the price.
How much longer can people defend a man who rode the coattails of Modrić in his prime and one of the greatest generations of Croatian footballers ever assembled? He should have been sacked after the Italy game at the Euros. Instead, he’s still here once again sabotaging Croatia’s chances at a major tournament.
As for Vušković, he was dreadful today. If people genuinely think he’s worth 60 million Euros, they need to watch that performance again. The warning signs were there from the start. On England’s corner, he unnecessarily conceded a corner instead of clearing the ball for a throw-in. For someone supposedly dominant in the air, he completely lost Kane for the goal and left him with far too much space. He wasn’t the only defender at fault but he was certainly the main culprit. The third goal was even worse. He completely misread the counterattack, left Bellingham with acres of space and essentially gave him a free run into a dangerous scoring position. It was a horrible piece of defending. His lack of pace was exposed repeatedly and to top it all off, he was beaten in the box by Nico O’Reilly, who is smaller than him. Seeing Vušković lose aerial duels like that doesn’t exactly scream “€60 million centre-back.”
Modrić was poor as well, but the main issue remains Dalić.
His presence is actively holding this team back. I genuinely don’t understand the optimism among sections of the Croatian fanbase anymore. It’s time to face reality, Dalić is clearly out of his depth and has been for far too long now. Croatia needs a new manager ASAP!