Croatia beats Ghana 2-1 to advance after late Vlasic goal

VAR turned a late set piece into a swing moment in Philadelphia Stadium, where Derrick Luckassen’s 73rd-minute equalizer for Ghana survived a possible offside review before Croatia reclaimed control and won 2-1. The match, played on June 27, 2026 and officiated by Drew Fischer, ended with Nikola Vlasic striking the decisive goal in the 83rd minute after a Luka Modric corner.

Luckassen had drifted into the area as Ghana worked the free kick into danger, then side-footed the ball home with his left foot to level the score 17 minutes from time. The finish briefly shifted the mood of the contest and gave Ghana a route back into a game that had been tightening under pressure. The VAR check for offside only sharpened the emotional edge of the moment before the goal stood and the Ghana players could celebrate an equalizer that changed the competitive balance on the field.

Croatia absorbed that jolt and answered with a set piece of its own. Modric delivered the corner that led to Vlasic’s winner, restoring Croatia’s lead ten minutes after Luckassen’s goal and sending the runners-up from the 2018 World Cup and third-place finishers from Qatar 2022 through to the next round. The finish was the kind of late, precise intervention that Croatia has built its recent tournament identity around, and it left Ghana chasing again with little time to recover.

The result left Croatia second in Group L and advanced, while Ghana, already qualified, dropped to third. The group carried real weight before kickoff, with Croatia arriving as one of the tournament’s most proven sides and Ghana trying to answer for a disappointing campaign in Qatar 2022, where the Black Stars had far less to show than their quarter-final run in 2010.

Carlos Queiroz, appointed Ghana coach in April 2026, was working his fifth consecutive World Cup as a manager, while Ghana’s 26-man squad had already been shaped by the absence of Mohammed Kudus, who missed out because of a quad injury. Luckassen’s place in that squad proved consequential in Philadelphia, where one reviewed set piece briefly tilted the match and another decided it.