Published on 6/28/2026
Luka Modric (40 years and 291 days) has become the oldest player in official records since 1966 to have succeeded in providing an assist in a World Cup competition, in the match that saw the Croatian national team qualify for the knockout rounds after defeating the Ghana national team 2-1 at the conclusion of the group stage competitions.
This qualification is the fourth in the history of Croatia, as the team succeeded in reaching the elimination rounds in the last three editions in a row (2018, 2022, 2026), after achieving this achievement only once during its first four participation in the tournament that began in 1998.
Read also
list of 2 itemsend of list
On the other hand, despite the defeat, the Ghanaian national team qualified for the knockout rounds for the third time in its history, after the 2006 editions (when it reached the round of 16) and 2010 (the quarter-finals). The numbers indicate the suffering of the “Black Stars” against European Union teams. The Ghanaian national team did not achieve any victory in its last six matches against them in all competitions (they tied two matches and lost 4), and it only achieved one victory in its last 16 matches against these teams (they drew 6 and lost 9), and that only victory was 2-0 in a friendly match against Switzerland in November 2022.
Technically, the Croatia-Ghana match (0.42 for Croatia, 0.73 for Ghana) recorded the third lowest value of expected goals in a single match in the 2026 World Cup, with a total of 1.15, lagging only the matches of Paraguay vs. Australia (0.79) and Uruguay vs. Spain (1.06). As for the Ghanaian national team, statistics showed that nine of their last 11 goals in the World Cup were scored during the second half.
Sučić makes history
In terms of records in the match, Petar Sučić (22 years and 245 days) entered history as the second youngest player to score a goal for Croatia in the World Cup, behind Joshko Gvardiol, who scored against Morocco in 2022 (20 years and 328 days).
The opening goal scored by Sučić was the 28th goal from outside the penalty area in the 2026 edition, the most in a single edition since 1994 (30 goals). As for Nikola Vlasic, he scored in three of the last four matches he started with Croatia in all competitions, and the three goals came in different years (2024, 2025, 2026).
On the Ghanaian side, Derek Lucassen is the fourth Ghanaian player to score in his first participation in the World Cup, after Draman Hamino (2006), Ousmane Bockarie (2022), and Caleb Yerenke (2026).
In the participation records, Ivan Perišić played his 20th match with Croatia in the World Cup, all of them as a starting player. He joins the list of players who played 100% more matches as starters (excluding goalkeepers), namely: Paolo Maldini (23), Diego Maradona (21), and Uwe Seeler (21).
The average age of Croatia’s starting lineup against Ghana was (30 years and 94 days), which is the second oldest average age of a Croatian squad in a World Cup match, after the squad that won 2-1 against the Netherlands in the third-place match in 1998 (30 years and 126 days).
