By Izuchukwu Okosi
Ghana finished third in Group L after a 2-1 defeat to 2018 World Cup finalist Croatia Saturday. The game was frenetic in the early stages
Nikola Vlasic hit the woodwork in the 17th minute and saw the ball bobble out of play.
The Ghanaian side failed to heed the warning sign and eventually conceded just past the half hour when Petar Sucic received the ball 25 meters away and let fly a low shot into the bottom left corner.
The goal was the 28th scored from outside of the penalty box in the 2026 World Cup so far.
Ghana’s second half substitute Abdul Fatawu who came on at the break showed his intents with a left footed strike from an acute angle but the ball went side off target.
The Leicester City forward just few seconds later delivered a teasing cross but Antoine Semenyo who aimed an acrobatic finishing in front of the Croatian goal missed target by whiskers as the Eastern Europeans seemingly played on the backfoot and allowed Ghana to attack them.
Lukassen Brobbery, whose brother, Brian, plays for The Netherlands, scored a goal for Ghana but it had to go through a VAR check before it was given as he was not deemed offside.
Nikola Vlasic scored Croatia’s second goal via a textbook header with seven minutes to the end of the game.
England topped the group after full time following their 2-0 win over Panama while Croatia and Ghana finished second and third respectively.
