Portugal vs Croatia Prediction, Betting Tips & Odds

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World Cup Predictions

by Fred Mwambu

3 weeks ago 0 21

Last Updated on July 2, 2026

Competition – FIFA World Cup 2026

Round of 32 – Friday, July 3, 2026

Kick-off – 2 am (Thursday night)

Venue – Toronto Stadium, Toronto

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Why the Portugal vs Croatia match matters

The stakes can never be higher than this as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo battles to leave a legacy at football’s grandest stage. This comes especially at a time when his billboard rival, Leo Messi, has already bagged a World Cup and is looking like a prime candidate to defend it, as he leads the scoring charts with six goals, scoring in all three of his group games, and has a lowly-ranked Cape Verde on July 3 in Miami.

Portugal and Croatia have never met in a competitive World Cup fixture, and this will be a first. However, it arrives at a special time when it is quite possible that this could be the final international stage when Ronaldo and his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric will ever share the same pitch.

Ronaldo is 41 years old and recently became the first player in history to score at six different FIFA World Cups, having played at a record six different tournaments. Luka Modric, now 40, played his 200^th international match for Croatia in their 1-0 victory over Panama on matchday two. At 200 caps, he joins only an exclusive class of stars that include Ronaldo and Leo Messi. Toronto will surely witness history at the end of the day, irrespective of the result on the pitch.

Portugal’s path to the Round of 32 was hardly flawless as they launched the campaign on the wrong foot, as Yoanne Wissa headed deep in the additional minutes of the first half to cancel out Joao Neves’ sixth-minute opener for them to share the spoils with Congo. Portugal then failed to get a way around the blue stonewall. A 5-0 thumping of Uzbekistan in their second match, with Ronaldo bagging a brace, resurrected their campaign, but they slipped again to a goalless draw versus Colombia to finish second on five points, two behind Colombia.

The two draws largely exposed coach Roberto Martinez’s tactical acumen, especially when a group of extremely talented youngsters struggle to break down a well-organised defensive block when their main creative outlets are shut off.

Croatia, too, had a turbulent run to this stage and doesn’t look like the team that won silver in Russia 2018 and bronze in Qatar 2022. Zlatko Dalic’s side had threatened to match up with England in the opening goal after coming from down twice to draw level at the break, but they were torn apart by an efficient English bench to lose 4-2. They struggled to break down Panama on day two, eventually winning 1-0, but were able to dispatch Ghana 2-1 to finish second.

Portugal’s last five matches

28.06.2026 – Colombia 0-0 Portugal
23.06.2026 – Portugal 5-0 Uzbekistan
17.06.2026 – Portugal 1-1 DR Congo
10.06.2026 – Portugal 2-1 Nigeria
06.06.2026 – Portugal 2-1 Chile

Goals scored – 10

Goals conceded – 3

Key trends from Portugal’s recent matches

Portugal won only one and drew the other of their group games to finish the pool with only five points. They have scored six goals, but a bulk of them, five to be exact, came against Uzbekistan and one against DR Congo. Two of their three fixtures have ended with two or fewer goals, while two produced goals at both ends. Overall, they have scored 10 and conceded only three goals in their last five matches.

Croatia’s last five matches

28.06.2026 – Croatia 2-1 Ghana
24.06.2026 – Panama 0-1 Croatia
17.06.2026 – England 4-2 Croatia
07.06.2026 – Croatia 2-1 Slovenia
02.06.2026 – Croatia 0-2 Belgium

Goals scored – 7

Goals conceded – 8

Key trends from Portugal’s recent matches

Roatia won two of their three group games against Ghana and Panama after losing 4-2 to England. Two of those games ended with both teams scoring and three or more goals scored. In the last five games in general, Croatia have scored seven goals while conceding eight.

Head-to-Head results for Portugal vs Croatia

18.11.2024 – Croatia 1-1 Portugal
05.09.2024 – Portugal 2-1 Croatia
08.06.2024 – Portugal 1-2 Croatia
17.11.2020 – Croatia 2-3 Portugal
05.09.2020 – Portugal 4-1 Croatia

Head-to-Head summary

Portugal wins: 3
Croatia wins: 1
Draws: 1
Goals: Portugal 11-7 Croatia

Form guide

Portugal: D-W-D-W-W
Croatia: W-W-L-W-L

Portugal team news

Coach Roberto Martinez has a fully fit squad to select from with no injuries reported or suspensions.

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Key Portuguese players to watch

Ronaldo has started all three games for Portugal at the 026 FIFA World Cup and played full minutes in their draws against Colombia and DR Congo, scoring two goals. He recently became the first player in the history of the FIFA World Cup to score across six tournaments and has scored ten career goals at this stage. Even at 41 years, Ronaldo has proved that age is just a number and remains their greatest goal threat both on the ground and in the air.

Bruno Fernandes broke the record for most assists in the English Premier League and has already provided one assist in this tournament. Croatia is likely to sit in a compact midfield block, forcing Portugal to rely heavily on the creativity of Fernandes to unlock opportunities and transition into dangerous positions.

Croatia team news

Coach Zlatko Dalic is expected to have a full squad as no suspensions and injuries were reported after the group games unless otherwise.

However, the team will most likely have to manage their most prized asset, Luka Modric, who was substituted in the second half against both Ghana and Panama but with this match holding great significance to both the team and the 40-year-old, it will be interesting to see how the coach will manage his activity.

Key Croatian players to watch

Modric is Croatia’s captain and most influential player who was named player of the tournament in Russia 2018. His brilliant corner kick delivered Vlasvik’s winner against Ghana to remind the world of his qualities. Modric has featured in all 17 matches for Croatia across three World Cups and scored two goals. He has amassed 200 caps for the side and remains a crucial cog.

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol will be key in managing Cristiano Ronaldo’s movements in the box as well as intercepting Fernandez’s killer passes while their goalkeeper Dominic Livakovic, attempts to produce another string of saves after that performance against Panama.