Croatia

Croatia carries the memory of a 2018 World Cup final appearance and a 2022 third-place finish into Group L, where they face England, Ghana, and Panama. For fans in Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik (Central European Summer Time, UTC+2), the North American schedule creates late-night commitments for every group stage match.

The Group L opener on June 17 pits Croatia against England at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The 15:00 Central Time kickoff translates to 22:00 in Zagreb, a prime late evening slot that Croatian fans will embrace without hesitation. A fixture this significant demands no less. The second match on June 23 against Panama in Toronto starts at 19:00 Eastern, landing at 01:00 on June 24 in Croatia - firmly past midnight. The final group match on June 28 against Ghana (Group L final day details not confirmed in schedule but tracking the group pattern) will similarly fall in the early morning hours.

Croatia’s World Cup story since 1998 has been extraordinary for a country of under four million people. The 2018 run to the final, with matches against Russia, England, and Argentina watched by essentially the entire nation in the early hours of the morning, proved that Croatian fans will simply not sleep when the national team is playing. Bars in Zagreb’s Tkalciceva Street became famous during Russia 2018 for all-night crowds. The same culture will apply in 2026.

The England match at 22:00 Zagreb time is the group stage gift: a European prime-time kickoff for the most anticipated fixture in Group L.