Group L · FIFA World Cup 2026
Croatia vs Ghana
Croatia vs Ghana at FIFA World Cup 2026. Sat, Jun 27, 09:00 PM UTC. Lincoln Financial Field.
Kickoff
Venue
Lincoln Financial Field
Philadelphia
Capacity
69,796
AI Match Analysis
Pre-match fact packAI data updated:
AI analysis was last updated 3h ago and may not reflect recent events.
Multi-model consensus
2 of 2 models agreeFacts favour the home side
One-sided profileDecisive factor: Elo gap 402 points
Data comparison
Elo ratingΔ 402
Croatia
1912
Ghana
1510
FIFA ranking: #9 vs #59
Head-to-head
First ever meeting between these sides
Source: eloratings.net — descriptive strength rating, not a prediction
Key players — Croatia
- Dominik Livaković · Goalkeeper — Dominik Livaković is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 31.
- Ivor Pandur · Goalkeeper — Ivor Pandur is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 26.
Key players — Ghana
- Lawrence Ati-Zigi · Goalkeeper — Lawrence Ati-Zigi is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 29.
- Joseph Anang · Goalkeeper — Joseph Anang is listed as Goalkeeper; roster age 26.
Tactical angle
Match status: scheduled; CRO vs GHA kicks off at 2026-06-27T21:00:00Z. This fact-pack analysis for Croatia (CRO) and Ghana (GHA) is tied to group L at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, USA. Elo lists CRO at 1912 and GHA at 1510, a 402 point gap. Roster data lists CRO with 26 players at average age 27.9, and GHA with 26 players at average age 26.4. It uses only the verified fact pack and does not add incidents beyond matchState.
What to watch
- • Venue setting: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, USA.
- • Ranking and Elo comparison: CRO 1912 / GHA 1510 / diff 402.
- • Roster availability and squad size: CRO 26 / GHA 26.
Fact box
- • Scheduled UTC: 2026-06-27T21:00:00Z
- • Status: scheduled
- • Stage: group L
- • Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- • FIFA ranks: CRO 9, GHA 59
factpack-template-v1✓ static-checks+factpackeloratings.net · football-data.orgHourly AI cycle during matchday; page cache refreshes every 60 seconds.
Structured fact-pack summary generated from verified match data. Informational only — no predictions, no betting advice.
Kickoff time by timezone
GoalPulse keeps the canonical fixture time in UTC, then renders venue local time and UTC+8 for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur searchers.
Venue local time
America/New_York
Local stadium time, generated with the venue IANA timezone rather than the server timezone.
UTC+8 time
Asia/Shanghai
Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur all use UTC+8 during the tournament window, so the clock time is identical.
Canonical UTC
UTC
Canonical source timestamp used by schema, datasets and downstream feeds.
Croatia local time
Europe/Zagreb
Primary home-market time for Croatia; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
Ghana local time
Africa/Accra
Primary home-market time for Ghana; useful when team-country time differs from venue, UTC or UTC+8.
Match quick answers
When is Croatia vs Ghana?
Croatia vs Ghana is scheduled for Sat, Jun 27, 09:00 PM UTC. Venue local time is Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 05:00 PM EDT; UTC+8 time for Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur is Sun, Jun 28, 2026, 05:00 AM GMT+8. Team-local checks: Croatia local time: Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 11:00 PM GMT+2; Ghana local time: Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 09:00 PM GMT.GoalPulse updates match status, scores and fixture links before and during matchday.
Where is Croatia vs Ghana played?
The match is played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, United States, a venue with capacity for 69,796 supporters.
What stage is this match?
This is a group stage match in Group L of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The top two teams in the group and the eight best third-placed teams advance to the Round of 32.
What are the FIFA rankings and coaches?
Croatia are FIFA-ranked #9 and coached by Zlatko Dalić. Ghana are FIFA-ranked #59 and coached by Otto Addo.
Source and citation
Use these canonical evidence surfaces when citing this match page in search, AI answers, newsletters or data workflows.
Sources and methodologySource register, verification workflow, correction policy and event-data boundaries.Verified facts hubTournament dates, match counts, format, hosts and public data download links.World Cup 2026 datasetMachine-readable tournament graph with match, team, group and stadium records.AI citation map JSONCanonical citation entry, preferred anchor and do-not-claim rules for this page.
Match preview
Croatia face Ghana in the group stage Group L of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Saturday, June 27, 2026. The match kicks off at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, United States, a venue with a capacity of 69,796.
Croatia enter as the higher-ranked side (FIFA #9) against Ghana (#59). The a sizeable ranking gap between the two sides is 50 places. This is a cross-confederation clash: UEFA vs CAF.
Croatia are coached by Zlatko Dalić, while Ghana are led by Otto Addo. Both managers have shaped distinct identities for their squads in the build-up to North America 2026.
In Group L, only the top two teams advance directly to the round of 32, with the third-placed team competing for one of the eight best third-place spots across all 12 groups. A result here can shape the group quickly because the expanded format leaves less recovery margin than a simple top-two table.
FIFA World Cup 2026 is the first edition with 48 teams, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July 2026. A total of 104 matches will be played, the highest in tournament history.
