Support for the Vatreni is not a scandal but the minimum of state seriousness
While the Croatian national football team prepares for its match against Panama at the 2026 World Cup, part of the political and public debate is once again trying to turn a sporting event into yet another petty domestic quarrel. The occasion is the announcement by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, that he will attend the match in Toronto, at a time that overlaps with his official visit to Canada. According to a report by HRT and Hina, Plenković said as early as 15 May that attending Croatia’s second group match was being considered and that a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was being arranged. In a normal political culture, such an announcement would be understood as a combination of a diplomatic programme, meetings with the Croatian community and support for a national team that for decades has represented one of the most recognisable images of Croatia in the world. But Croatian politics, even during the World Cup, does not always manage to resist the temptation to turn national pride into an object of mockery, suspicion or daily political confrontation.
A match with sporting and symbolic weight
According to FIFA’s official schedule, Panama and Croatia play their Group L match on 23 June 2026 at Toronto Stadium, and for Central European viewers the duel falls in the early hours of 24 June. In its tournament data, FIFA states that the 2026 World Cup is being played in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, in an expanded format with 48 national teams and 104 matches. England, Ghana and Panama are in the same group as Croatia, and the competition rules provide for the two best national teams from each group, as well as the eight best third-placed teams, to advance to the round of 32. This means that the meeting in Toronto is not a ceremonial stop but a match in which the continuation of Croatia’s path at the tournament is directly decided. After the defeat to England, the room for calculation has narrowed, but it has not disappeared.
The Croatian Football Federation announced that Croatia lost its first Group L match to England 4:2 in Dallas. The scorers for England were Harry Kane, twice, Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, while Martin Baturina and Petar Musa scored for Croatia. According to the HNS report, Croatia came back from behind twice in the first half, and after the break Dominik Livaković kept the team in the game with a series of saves. The defeat to a strong England side was painful, but it was not the end of the story. That is precisely why the arrival of any senior state official at the next match, especially in a country with a large Croatian community, is not a bizarre luxury but a message that the national team is not followed only when everything is going smoothly.
The attack on support for the national team misses the point
Criticism of the authorities is legitimate in every democracy, including debate about the costs of official travel, diplomatic protocol and the priorities of state officials. But there is a difference between serious oversight of public authority and a political reflex that looks for a reason to belittle every gesture of national support. When the prime minister, the president of the state, a minister or any other representative of the state follows the national team at a major competition, it is not merely a private act of fandom. It is a public gesture of support for a team that performs under the flag of the Republic of Croatia, before millions of viewers and before communities of Croats who live far from the land of their families and ancestors. Whoever sees only scandal in that, and not its symbolic and diplomatic value, is deliberately narrowing the picture.
This is not about crediting any politician with the goals, saves or results of the national team. Football victories belong to the players, the head coach, the coaching staff and the fans, not to party offices. But the state has the right and duty to stand behind its national team when it performs on the greatest world stage. In that sense, political populism that mocks the very idea of state support is in fact hitting the wrong target. It does not strike only at the prime minister or the governing policy, but also at the sense of togetherness that forms around the national team among Croats in the country and in the diaspora. Such cynicism may sound sharp in a studio or on social networks, but in front of a stadium full of fans in checkered shirts it looks small.
Toronto as a stage for Croatian unity
In its information about stadiums, FIFA states that Toronto Stadium has a capacity of 44,315 seats, with the note that the final number may change because of the stadium configuration. That figure alone shows that this is one of the more intimate venues at the tournament, but also a stage on which the voice of the fans can be heard strongly. Toronto and the wider Canadian area have a visible Croatian community, and HNS had already emphasised the importance of fan support in Canada before the tournament. According to HNS, Petar Musa said on 22 June that the national team can be grateful to fans around the world and that the players want to make them happy and proud with their performance on the pitch. That statement is not a protocol phrase, but a reminder that the Croatian national team is not a closed sporting product, but one of the rare symbols that connects people across continents.
That is exactly why the match against Panama has a broader meaning than the table itself. It comes after a defeat, at a moment when it is easiest to give up, mock, look for culprits and declare the end before the group has finished. According to an HNS announcement, after England head coach Zlatko Dalić said that Croatia must turn to Panama and that there is no room for pessimism. He said that Panama is not a harmless national team, but also that Croatia will have more possession and more opportunities from set pieces than against England. He especially stressed responsibility, concentration and the need to improve set pieces, because they were precisely the biggest problem against England. That is a sporting and realistic approach: no panic, no theatrical self-pity, but preparation for a match that can put the tournament back into Croatian hands.
The national team as proof that a small state can be great
The Croatian national football team carries a burden of expectations that did not arise overnight. In its profile of the Croatian national team, FIFA recalls that Croatia played in the final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and won third place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Such continuity of success for a country of fewer than four million inhabitants is not ordinary sporting statistics but an international phenomenon. Through football, Croatia has shown that a small state can be visible, competitively stubborn and globally respected. For that reason, the national team is rightly perceived as one of the most important public symbols of contemporary Croatia.
That symbol must not be held hostage by any party, any government or any ideological group. But neither should it be the object of constant underestimation by those who feel uncomfortable every time Croatian identity appears strong, self-confident and internationally visible. Patriotism in sport is not primitivism if it is based on respect for opponents, the rules of the game and dignified representation of the state. It is precisely the Croatian national team that has proved for years that fighting spirit and dignity can be combined. Cheering for Croatia does not mean hating others; it means recognising that there are moments when a shared flag, anthem and jersey have a power that cold political cynicism will never understand.
Plenković’s trip to Canada should be seen in a broader context
According to the report by HRT and Hina, the announced arrival of Andrej Plenković at the match against Panama is connected with an official visit to Canada, and the same statement also mentioned the arrangement of a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The official website of the Canadian prime minister confirms that Carney is the current prime minister of Canada, and in recent days his administration has been publishing activities related to the G7 and internal Canadian topics. Within that framework, connecting a political meeting, diplomatic contacts and a national-team match is not unusual. Major sporting competitions are often places where statesmen, federation representatives, businesspeople and diaspora communities meet. Diplomacy does not take place only at conference tables; sometimes its important signals are sent precisely at large public events.
That is why it is superficial to reduce the whole story to the question of whether the prime minister may appear in the stands. Of course he may, provided that the rules of official travel, transparency of costs and regular state protocol are respected. The public has the right to demand answers about organisation and costs, but there is no serious reason to present support for the national team itself as a political sin. If the prime minister were not present, some critics would probably ask why the state is not showing itself alongside the national team at the World Cup. When he announces his arrival, the same circles find a new accusation. Such logic is not oversight of power, but a predetermined contempt for everything that may look like Croatian success, Croatian unity or Croatian visibility.
Panama is looking for its chance, Croatia must respond like a winner
From a sporting perspective, Panama is not an opponent that may be underestimated. HNS conveyed Dalić’s assessment that Panama is not harmless, and before the trip to Toronto Josip Stanišić said that Croatia does not take any opponent lightly and that it enters the match with the intention of winning. Panama remained without points against Ghana in the first round, while Croatia also started from zero with the defeat to England. That is exactly why the duel in Toronto has the character of a match in which an impression is repaired, but also a realistic chance of advancing is preserved. In the expanded World Cup format, even third place does not necessarily mean elimination, but a national team of Dalić’s profile cannot build its plan only on other people’s results and calculations.
Croatia needs a match in which it will show what has made it respected for years: calmness on the ball, character after a blow, concentration in defence and the ability to find a solution under pressure. The defeat to England revealed weaknesses, but also reminded us that the team has players who can respond with quality. Baturina’s goal, Musa’s comeback goal and Livaković’s saves are not enough for satisfaction, but they are supports for the next step. Dalić’s announcement that particular work will be done on set pieces shows that the staff understands where the problem arose. In Toronto, therefore, it will not be enough merely to invoke emotion; Croatia must play with a cool head a match that is won through discipline, patience and determination.
Patriotism is not a flaw, but an obligation of a responsible public
The most dangerous form of political commentary is not criticism, but the habit of declaring every Croatian symbol in advance to be pathos, provincialism or an opportunity for mockery. The national team does not demand blind worship, but it deserves respect. Players who wear the Croatian shirt do not become untouchable, the head coach is not exempt from analysis, and politicians in the stands must not be freed from public responsibility. But there is a boundary between analysis and belittlement. When that boundary is crossed, the sense of proportion is lost, as is the sense of what the sport of great national teams means to people who live with it far beyond daily politics.
The Croatian national team is not sacred in the theological sense, but it is one of the rare contemporary symbols that gathers people of different beliefs, generations and life paths. Its successes do not belong only to stadiums and archives, but to family memories, diaspora clubs, children’s jerseys, squares, songs and moments in which a shared belonging is recognised. Whoever does not understand that may have the right to criticism, but has no right to be surprised when most fans recognise such contempt as cold and barren. Ahead of the match with Panama, the most reasonable message is not political hysteria, but simple and firm support: Croatia must win, and all those who represent it on the world stage should behave in a manner worthy of the name they bear.
Sources:
- FIFA – official schedule of the 2026 World Cup and information about the Panama – Croatia match (link)
- FIFA – group advancement rules and competition format at the 2026 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – official information about stadiums, including Toronto Stadium (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – report on the England – Croatia 4:2 match and scorers in Group L (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – statements by Zlatko Dalić after the defeat to England and ahead of Panama (link)
- Croatian Football Federation – statements by Petar Musa and Josip Stanišić ahead of the match with Panama (link)
- HRT / Hina – announcement of Andrej Plenković’s arrival at the Croatia and Panama match in Toronto during his visit to Canada (link)
- Office of the Prime Minister of Canada – official website of Prime Minister Mark Carney (link)
- FIFA – profile and history of the Croatian national team at World Cups (link)