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Croatia celebrate their opener vs Gibraltar
Toni Fruk’s first international goal for Croatia helped them on their way to a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar in Varazdin, extending their lead at the top of UEFA Group L in the 2026 FIFA World Cup (WC) qualifiers and putting them within a point of qualification with two games - against Faroe Islands and Montenegro - to spare.
Unsurprisingly, the hosts bossed the game in terms of possession from the opening whistle, but Gibraltar’s willingness to play defensively and soak up the pressure frustrated Zlatko Dalic’s side.
Lovro Majer came very close to giving Croatia the lead after 18 minutes played when a poor defensive header fell right into the path of the Wolfsburg midfielder, but his 10-yard effort was well blocked by goalkeeper Jaylan Hankins.
But Croatia’s persistent threat was finally rewarded on the half-hour mark, when an excellent right-wing delivery from Marco Pasalic – who had earlier hit the woodwork – was met by Toni Fruk, and his header from eight yards out found the bottom corner.
Remarkably though, despite having 83% of the ball and 13 shots in the opening 45 minutes, this was the only goal Croatia could register before the interval.
The hosts were awarded a penalty 10 minutes after the interval when Fruk was blatantly tripped over inside the 18-yard area, but Majer’s unconvincing spot-kick was saved by Hankins to further frustrate Croatia.
Hankins would then go on to make an impressive save to prevent Croatia from doubling their lead in the 74th minute through Pasalic, and while Gibraltar’s low block tactics were far from adventurous, Los Llanis were making life very awkward for the 2018 WC finalists.
However, Croatia finally killed the game off after 78 minutes, when substitute Luka Sucic smashed the ball into the back of the net from close range to seal the result.
The icing on the cake arrived in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Martin Erlic headed home from close range to extend Croatia’s lead right at the death.
Croatia’s victory means that they could have their ticket to next year’s WC booked as early as the 14th of November – an event that would see them get to the tournament finals for the seventh time in their history.0Meanwhile, Gibraltar have now lost eight games in a row, and are without a point from 26 WC qualifiers spanning nearly a decade.
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