Luka Modric was fouled once in Croatia’s defeat to England last time out, with Croatia drawing 10 fouls from England overall. His replacement in Mateo Kovacic came on to be fouled two times in the final 30 minutes, showing that this leg has a decent angle with Super Sub too.

Modric is still a key player in this Croatia side, he completed 100% of his passes against England and should still be able to set the tempo for his nation against a Panama side that will struggle to offer any meaningful opposition to Croatia’s dominance.

Modric won four fouls across his four starts for Croatia during qualifying (0.90 per 90) and will be up against a Panama side who committed 11 fouls in their opening game. Modric also averaged 1.05 fouls won per 90 across his 32 starts for AC Milan during the 25/26 campaign. 

Croatia should comfortably exceed this corner line, they averaged 9.25 corners per game during qualifying and won 4+ corners in 75% of their matches. 

Panama conceded 3.40 corners per game during their qualifying campaign and will have to sit quite deep here if they want to avoid a blowout from Croatia, which should lead to the European side registering a healthy corner count.

I expect Croatia to dominate the game, though it may take them a while to find a way through the stubborn low block of Panama which should allow for this corner total to be matched or exceeded by Zlatko Dalic’s side.

Croatia scored twice in their opener against England but came away with nothing, making this a very important game for the European side if they want to avoid a very tense clash against Ghana on the final matchday.

Croatia are more than good enough to come away with a comfortable victory here. Panama did ok in spells against Ghana, but ultimately lost the game and conceded an xG of 1.25 from just seven shots. Croatia should exceed that shot count and be able to put a few goals past this Panama side in a comfortable victory.

Croatia scored 26 goals across their eight qualifying matches (3.25 per game) and I back them to get on the scoresheet at least twice against a Panama side that they are comfortably superior to.

Gvardiol is a constant shot threat for club and country, managing one attempt in Croatia’s defeat to England in their opening game. 

His effort in that clash came from a corner, one of only two that Croatia managed in the encounter. I’d expect Zlatko Dalic’s side to have more corners in this clash against a much weaker Panama side, though Gvardiol can also offer a threat from open play - getting forward from his role as the left centre back in a back three.

Gvardiol managed four shots across his four starts for Croatia during qualifying (1.04 per 90), scoring one goal across these games. He also maintained an average of 1.11 shots per 90 across 16 starts for Manchester City during the 25/26 campaign. 

Martin Baturina is a really talented player and scored a brilliant goal against England last time out as Croatia fell to a 4-2 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s side. 

He didn’t get much of a chance to feature for Croatia during qualifying, but did still manage to get four shots away across 172 minutes of action (2.09 per 90) with three of these efforts coming from outside of the box.

This is relevant as Baturina’s goal against England also came from distance, suggesting that the Como player is not afraid to take on speculative efforts which could be crucial for Croatia as they look to unlock a stubborn Panama side in a must win game.

Baturina scored six goals across just 17 starts for Como during the 25/26 campaign from 28 shots (1.61 per 90). I think he’ll have plenty of confidence to have a few more attempts in this game following his goal against the Three Lions.