Croatia at the World Cup 2026
Group L · UEFA
Croatia are runners-up in 2018, third in 1998 and 2022 and line up in Group L at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the first 48-team edition of the tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, Mexico. They face England, Ghana, Panama in the group stage. For US (soccer) fans, all Croatia kickoff times below are shown in Eastern and Pacific as well as GMT. Below: the full Croatia schedule, kickoff times, group rivals and our model's match predictions.
Croatia World Cup 2026 Schedule
Kickoff times in US Eastern (ET) and Pacific (PT) are converted automatically from each match's scheduled time; confirm against your local broadcaster.
Croatia's World Cup 2026 group: how hard is it?
Drawn into Group L, Croatia share their section with England, Ghana, Panama. The standout name is England — a former world champion, which makes this one of the tougher pools to escape. With four confederations potentially represented, styles clash here, and the new 48-team format means the top two go through automatically while the third-placed side still has a realistic route into the Round of 32.
Croatia's opening fixtures and what to watch
Croatia open against England (away), then meet Panama before closing the group against Ghana. Group-stage points are usually decided in the first two matchdays, so that opener carries real weight. Our prediction model reads each of these games through recent form, opponent strength and a Dixon-Coles Poisson grid — see the projected scorelines and win probabilities on our World Cup 2026 predictions page.
Croatia World Cup history
Historically, Croatia's best World Cup return is runners-up in 2018, third in 1998 and 2022. In 2026 they travel to North America, with matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Group L — Croatia's rivals
For match-by-match analysis and predicted scorelines, see our World Cup predictions. You can also view the full Group L table and fixtures, browse all 12 groups and the knockout bracket, or check the complete World Cup 2026 schedule with US kickoff times.