Croatia heads to World Cup on winning note
Croatia substitute Mario Pasalic grabbed a stoppage-time winner to edge neighbour Slovenia 2-1 in a friendly international on Monday (AEST) and heads to the 2026 FIFA World Cup on a winning note.
It was the final warm-up game for the Croatia side, which has reached at least the final four of the past two FIFA World Cups, before departing for the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and United States.
It will open its campaign against England in Dallas on 18 June (AEST).
Captain Luka Modric, playing possibly his final home international, fittingly scored to give Croatia an early second-half lead, but a horror back pass allowed Slovenia substitute Andraz Sporar to equalise in the 83rd minute.
Pasalic’s volleyed effort three minutes into stoppage-time came as a relief for Croatia.
The 40-year-old Modric cleverly placed a shot from the edge of the area into the net in the 51st minute after being set up by a square pass by Perisic. It was Modric's 29th goal in 198 appearances.
A defensive slip, however, from Martin Baturina gifted Sporar the chance to fire home from close range, which he did without hesitation.
But Slovenia failed to clear a bouncing ball in its area with time running out, and Pasalic snapped up the chance to volley into the net.
Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic had earlier made several key stops, notably from Zan Vipotnik.
Croatia had been beaten 2-0 last week by Belgium in Rijeka in the first of the two warm-up internationals arranged ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Croatia will also play against Ghana and Panama in Group L.
