A second-half strike from substitute Ante Budimir gave Croatia a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Panama in their Group L World Cup qualifier at Toronto Stadium on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old forward scored his first World Cup goal in the 54th minute, finishing off a well-worked move down the right flank by Josip Stanisic and Marco Pasalic.

Croatia remain third in the group with three points, but can secure a top-two finish with a win over Ghana in their final group match on Saturday.

Panama, meanwhile, are still searching for their first World Cup point after five matches, having also lost 1-0 to Ghana in their opener.

The goal came from Croatia's best attack of the match. Stanisic combined with Pasalic before delivering a cross that Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera failed to intercept, allowing Budimir to tap into an empty net.

The match erupted after the goal, with Croatia nearly doubling their lead through Pasalic, who was denied by Mosquera after being played through by Luka Modric.

Panama responded strongly, forcing Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic into three saves in quick succession, including a fine stop to deny Carlos Harvey's header from a corner.

A hydration break in the second half seemed to disrupt Panama's momentum, and Livakovic was largely untroubled in the closing stages.

Panama will look to play spoilers against England in their final match, while Croatia face Ghana in a crucial encounter.

Source: www.aljazeera.com