Europe and Africa meet at Philadelphia Stadium when Croatia and Ghana go head-to-head in their final Group L fixture.
Group L
Sunday, 28 June | Philadelphia Stadium
Kick-off time
05:00 (GMT+8)
The match
Croatia, who have placed second and third across the previous two World Cups, take on a Ghana team, who are out to bounce back following a disappointing Qatar 2022 campaign, in a clash in which both teams will be looking to ensure their place in the knockout stages. After losing to England, Croatia bounced back with victory over Panama. Meanwhile, Ghana are on a high after defeating Panama and then holding England to a goalless draw. They will lock horns for the first time at Philadelphia Stadium.
The side which tops this section will head into a Round-of-32 battle versus the nation which finishes third in either Group E, H, I, J or K in Atlanta. The runner-up will take on the second-placed side in Group K. If the team which finishes third in the pool qualify as one of the eight best, they will take on the winner of Group K in Kansas City.
Croatia possible starting XI
Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Gvardiol; Modric, Kovacic; Marco Pasalic, Baturina, Perisic; Musa
Ghana possible starting XI
Asare; Adjetey, Mensah, Opoku, Senaya; Yirenkyi, Semenyo, Partey, Sibo; Ayew, Williams
What they said…
“My only goal is for us to fight for 90 minutes to win. That’s all that matters in football. We’ll see if tomorrow’s match is more like rock ’n’ roll, samba, or tango — but one thing’s for sure: we’ll have to be ready. I want to be proud of myself, proud of my players, and proud of the work they’re doing for the fans. When the fans are happy, we can be happy too. Our job is to make the fans happy.” Carlos Queiroz, Ghana coach
“We all know that tomorrow’s match is important. We’re all ambitious; we want to advance past this round and see what happens next, but without getting ahead of ourselves. As a striker, you always have to be ready, because a single chance can change the whole game.” Antoine Semenyo, Ghana forward
“We need to raise our level of play and our level of concentration. We were where Croatia can be; we haven’t yet shown our best, but tomorrow we’ll have the opportunity to do so. I hope we’ll do what it takes and advance past the first round.” Zlatko Dalic, Croatia coach
“We’ve started analyzing Ghana, and we’ll continue to do so tonight. They’re a very good team, very compact. They played with a lower block in their first two matches, but they might change tomorrow. We have to be ready. We have to focus on ourselves, on what we need to do. We have to be better than we were in our first matches.” Ivan Perisic, Croatia forward
Philadelphia Stadium
Philadelphia Stadium opened with a blockbuster friendly match between Manchester United against Barcelona in August 2003, with Ronaldinho setting up Patrick Kluivert to score the arena’s first goal.
It would go on to house US national team games, the 2015 Gold Cup Final and Manchester United again in the years since, as well as becoming the permanent residence of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the temporary home of MLS team Philadelphia Union during the 2010 season.
The venue was the setting for a total of eight fixtures during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, with six group games, one Round of 16 fixture and eventual winners Chelsea’s quarter-final victory over Palmeiras, which was also played on 4 July.
At these finals, the venue will host five group-stage clashes, and one Round-of-32 contest.