- by croatiaweek
- June 7, 2026
-
in
Sport
Modrić scores for Croatia
VARAŽDIN, 7 June 2026 – Croatia ended their World Cup preparations at home with a 2-1 win over Slovenia in Varaždin on Sunday evening.
The match was Croatia’s final friendly before departing for the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, providing head coach Zlatko Dalić with one last opportunity to assess his squad ahead of the tournament.
The Vatreni had spent the previous two weeks in training in Rijeka and went into the match looking to respond after a 2-0 defeat to Belgium earlier in the week.
Dalić switched formations from a 3-4-2-1 system to a 4-2-3-1 setup.
There were five changes to the starting XI. Martin Erlić, Marin Pongračić, Marco Pašalić, Andrej Kramarić and Ante Budimir came into the side, while Josip Šutalo, Luka Vušković, Petar Sučić, Martin Baturina and Petar Musa made way.
The first half offered few clear-cut chances. Croatia dominated possession and controlled much of the play, but Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak was rarely called into action as both sides struggled to create meaningful opportunities in the final third.
The breakthrough though would arrive five minutes after the restart.
In the 50th minute, captain Luka Modrić found the net after placing a right-footed shot from the edge of the box past Oblak into the bottom corner to give the hosts a deserved 1-0 lead.
The goal came in Modrić’s 198th appearance for Croatia and potentially his last international on home soil in the national team shirt as he is expected to retire after the World Cup.
A mistake from Martin Baturina in he 83rd minute let Slovenia back in the game. His back pass to Livaković was intercepted by Šporar and he had no trouble slotting the ball home to make it 1-1.
Croatia tried to find a winner in the remaining ten minutes and would do so when Mario Pašalić fired the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the box in the final minute of added time.
Croatia will now fly out to the USA.
Croatia’s World Cup Group Fixtures
Croatia will open their World Cup campaign against England in Dallas on 17 June, with kick-off scheduled for 22:00 Croatian time.
Next they face Panama in Toronto on 23 June, which will kick off at 01:00 Croatian time on 24 June before meeting Ghana in Philadelphia on 27 June, with kick-off set for 23:00 Croatian time.
