Ivan Perisic gave Croatia fans a brief reason to dream on July 2, slotting home the opening goal against Portugal in the 54th minute of their World Cup 2026 Round of 32 clash. The 37-year-old PSV Eindhoven winger finished a close-range shot off a cross from Josip Stanisic, putting Croatia up 1-0.
Portugal responded by scoring four unanswered goals. Croatia’s tournament ended with a 4-0 defeat.
The crypto sponsorship drought at the World Cup
Rewind to 2022 and the Qatar World Cup was practically wallpapered with crypto logos. Crypto.com had stadium naming rights. Binance was everywhere. Player-endorsed NFT projects like Sorare and FootballStars were riding peak hype cycles, turning athletes into walking billboards for token ecosystems.
Coverage of the Croatia-Portugal match contained zero references to crypto assets, protocols, or token sponsorships tied to any player on the pitch, including Perisic himself, who had historical connections to projects like FootballStars tokens and Sorare collectibles during their heyday.
