TORONTO — On the night of Luka Modric’s landmark 200th cap, Croatia held off a valiant Panama side 1-0 at BMO Field to stay very much alive in the hunt for a place in the World Cup’s round of 32, while sending the Central American nation tumbling out of the competition after two matches.Panama had the better of the action over the first half, but Croatia turned to its bench with nearly immediate results. Ante Budimir, 34, scored eight minutes after coming on to start the second half, and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was sensational to preserve the lead, securing three crucial points for the 2018 runners-up and 2022 semifinalists.Croatia remain in third place in Group L, just a point off both England and Ghana and with a head-to-head meeting against the African side still to come. According to The Athletic’s World Cup tracker, Croatia now have a 95% chance of advancing to the knockout stage (where Portugal or Colombia are likeliest to be the first opponent as of now). Panama, meanwhile, are cruelly eliminated with a game to spare, having been beaten at the death by Ghana and then coming so close but being unable to break through Tuesday night.Our writers break down the key talking points from the match:Luka Modric is hoisted by his Croatia teammates after a win over Panama (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)Modric makes history, but can he still conjure the magic?In an entirely unscientific estimate, it seemed 90 percent of the thousands of Croatia supporters in Toronto had their jerseys embellished in honour of “Modric 10.” One of the best classical playmakers of his era, he was charged with influencing a team that is not vintage Croatia. But time seemed to be playing a cruel trick on Modric on the occasion of his 200th appearance for his country — just the fourth man to reach that plateau behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa. So often he has been the fulcrum, the leader, the inspiration. But it looked tough out there as Panama’s high-energy pressers sprinted around the pitch, while Modric’s own team-mates laboured to find momentum of their own.Some of his veteran contemporaries still have the legs, power or charisma to influence matches at this tournament. Croatia’s virtuoso was trying to eke out one last tune, but the notes were quiet. At the age of 40, it was not surprising that he had to be more conservative about his running and positioning. Panama would not allow this to be a slow-paced encounter that would lend itself to the old maestro having time to dictate as he pleased. Quite often he found himself positioned around the halfway line, just ahead of the defence, and it was only on occasion he could drift further forwards to try to carve out an opening. At one point when Croatia won the ball from a turnover and sprinted off on the break, Modric was the second to last man to start moving forward, with only the goalkeeper behind him.Once Croatia took the lead through Budimir, Modric had a golden moment, rolling back the years with an immaculately timed pass for Pasalic, whose errant shooting denied the old master the acclaim of what would have been a beautiful assist. Ten minutes from the end he was substituted to rapturous applause, as much for everything he has ever done before as what they saw now, but that was just the start of the celebration.