Croatia and Panama meet at BMO Field in Toronto on June 23 with something uncomfortable in common: zero points and shrinking margin for error. The Group L clash has become a de facto elimination match after both sides dropped their openers, turning what looked like a routine group-stage fixture into the kind of game that ends World Cup dreams.
Meanwhile, off the pitch, crypto’s fingerprints are all over this tournament. Prediction markets have already crossed $2 billion in World Cup volume, and FIFA itself has a crypto exchange sponsor for the first time. The 2026 World Cup isn’t just bigger with 48 teams. It’s wired differently.
A must-win disguised as matchday two
Croatia arrived in North America as one of the tournament’s most respected dark horses. Then England happened. A 4-2 defeat to the Three Lions was the kind of result that doesn’t just sting, it reshuffles your entire tournament calculus.
Panama’s loss was arguably crueler. A 1-0 defeat to Ghana, conceded in the 95th minute, meant the Central Americans did nearly everything right for 94 minutes and still walked away empty-handed.
