Madalic believes Croatia's approach to the match was not ideal, given their 1-0 victory over Panama.

Croatia, nicknamed the "Checkered Ones," defeated Panama 1-0 in their second group stage match of Group L at the 2026 World Cup, thanks to a second-half goal from Budimir. Dalic stated that his team's performance in the match was not ideal, but now their focus should be on the final group stage game.

In the 54th minute of the second half, Stanisic broke through the defense and passed the ball across the goal, which Budimir then tapped into the empty net, giving Croatia a 1-0 lead.

Croatia ultimately defeated Panama 1-0. With this crucial three points, Croatia now sits in third place in Group L with 3 points, one point behind leaders England.

Croatian coach Dalic said, "The players were under tremendous pressure. The opponent controlled almost every ball, and many possession battles also fell into their hands, which put us in a very passive situation. In the early stages of the game, we failed to get out of this predicament, which is why I was a little angry at the time and reacted so harshly."

"Actually, I didn't expect it to be such a difficult match. Our response was not ideal, and this may be related to the pressure, because we really needed these 3 points to keep our hopes of advancing to the next stage alive."

Dalic also stated, "Frankly, I'm not satisfied with the team's performance in this game, especially in the first half. But that game is over, and now we need to focus all our attention on the challenges that await us."

Furthermore, after suffering two consecutive defeats, Panama has been eliminated from the round of 32. Panama's head coach, Thomas Christiansen, said, "We played very well, we fought until the last minute, and we always stuck to our style. All I can say is that I am proud of my players."

“They played a great game and went head-to-head with Croatia. That’s football. They took a great chance and scored. In fact, the opponents didn’t pose much of a threat against us. I think we played very bravely in this game, and I’m really proud of the players.”

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