Croatia needs to find a way to beat Panama on Tuesday.
After losing 4-2 to England in their opening match, the Croatians have some ground to make up if they’re going to get out of the group stage at the 2026 World Cup.
Panama, meanwhile, will have to pick itself up off the floor after a heartbreaking loss to Ghana in their first match.
Los Canaleros conceded a goal in the 95th minute to fall, 1-0, to The Black Stars.
With England on the other side of Croatia, Panama needs to try to upset Croatia if it’s going to have a hope of advancing to the Round of 32.
Unfortunately, that kind of aggression is just not in the DNA of this team.
Panama has pulled some big results over the years, but they are your typical smash-and-grab team. They’ll make life difficult with their well-organized, physical defense, but they offer very little going forward outside of the odd counterattack.
That strategy almost worked against Ghana, but the Black Stars aren’t an offensive force by any stretch. Like Panama, Ghana prefers to sit back and defend, so they allowed Los Canaleros to be on the ball much more than they’re used to. Panama didn’t show much of a threat going forward, and I expect that to be the case against a savvy Croatian side that will look to get a foothold in this tournament after their loss to England.
Croatia looked out of sorts against England, but they should be champing at the bit to pick apart a team that doesn’t pose much of a threat on the attack.
One goal should open this thing up, and that should turn it into an easy night at the office for the Croatians.
The Play: Croatia -1.5 goals (+180, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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