Croatia beat Faroe Islands to book World Cup spot | OneFootball

Croatia secured a spot in the World Cup 2026 after a 3-1 victory over the Faroe Islands this Friday in Rijeka, becoming the third European team to qualify for the biggest football tournament, which will be held in North America.

The Croatians, leaders of Group L with a four-point advantage over the Czech Republic, can no longer be overtaken before the last round of the European Qualifiers on Monday.

Croatia will participate in its seventh World Cup, including a lost final to France in 2018 and third place in the last edition, in Qatar 2022.

The checkered jersey team thus joins England and France in the group of European teams qualified before the last round.

The defeat of the Faroe Islands, third place with 12 points, also guarantees a playoff spot for the Czech Republic (13 points), which still has a game to play against the modest Gibraltar team on Monday.

The goals of the match

In Rijeka, the Croatians were surprised early in the game with a goal from Geza Turi (16′). But Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol equalized shortly after (23′), before Petar Musa (57′) and Nikola Vlasic (70′), who had replaced Luka Modric eight minutes earlier, secured Croatia's victory.

Since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Croatia has participated in six World Cups. They were finalists in 2018, when they were defeated by France (who became two-time champions), and semifinalists in 1998 (also losing to the French, who would later win their first world title by defeating Brazil in the final).

In 2022, the Croatians were eliminated in the semifinals by Argentina, who later won the title. In that World Cup in Qatar, Croatia finished in third place.

Idol on the way to fifth World Cup

Modric, the 40-year-old Croatian captain with 193 appearances for the national team, will participate in his fifth World Cup. The midfielder, winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2018, left Real Madrid to join Milan this season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.