Photo by Jeffrey Eisen on Pexels
On the evening of June 23, a checkerboard river of red and white flowed down Saskatchewan Road toward Toronto Stadium, the tournament's name for BMO Field. Supporters carried a flag 100 metres long, and red smoke drifted over the procession. Panama was the opponent on paper, but Toronto's Croatians treated the night as a home game.
Croatia won 1-0 in front of 43,036 people. Ante Budimir tapped in a Josip Stanišić cross in the 54th minute, a goal that eliminated Panama and kept Croatia's own hopes of reaching the round of 32 alive. Nine days later Croatia was back at the same stadium against Portugal, and left it beaten.
Why it felt like a home game
Ontario's Croatian Heritage Day Act says the province is home to over 100,000 people of Croatian descent, the largest Croatian population in Canada. Croatia House, set up in the Toronto Event Centre at 15 Saskatchewan Road in Exhibition Place, was where supporters gathered. Out in Mississauga, Father Kamber Croatia Park, at 4525 Mississauga Road, hosted a watch party for the England opener on June 17.
Kickoff against Panama was 7 p.m. in Toronto, which was 1 a.m. in Croatia. Croatian portals range well beyond sport, though: GeeK.hr, a technology site, also runs a Jackpot section with a Croatian-language guide to choosing an online casino, which says the Ministry of Finance regulates the market. Its seven-point checklist opens with licence, SSL encryption and independently certified games, and the page behind “the full list here” is written for players in Croatia, not readers in Ontario. Those players must be 18, and the site itself warns that gambling can cause addiction.
Head coach Zlatko Dalić said the team knew how many of its people live in Canada. To Ivan Grbešić of the Canadian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the community's patriotism runs strong because the country had to fight for its freedom, as he told CP24. Coach and former professional player Branko Majstorović called soccer the community's national identity, while Dean Smiciklas, president of the Mississauga Croatia Soccer Club, never dreamed of seeing something like this in his lifetime.
Anita Jurisic came from Chicago for the Panama game, and Kelly Hromadmik flew in from Croatia for the Portugal match. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attended the Panama game during an official visit to Canada, sharing a box with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
From Group L to the Portugal exit
Croatia opened its tournament with a 4-2 loss to England in Arlington, Texas, on June 17, then recovered to finish second in Group L. Croatia ended on six points, one behind England. Panama lost all three of its group games and left without scoring a goal. Croatia's finish earned a round-of-32 tie with Portugal at the same stadium on July 2, the last of the six matches Toronto hosted.
The stadium sits at Exhibition Place, where BMO Field has been Toronto FC's home since the club joined MLS in 2007. An extreme heat warning was in effect that Thursday, with Environment Canada forecasting a humidex near 44 C, and the watch parties at Nathan Phillips Square were cancelled. Croatian supporters set out at 5 p.m. from just west of Croatia House behind the flag, and Portuguese fans marched from Stanley Park. Hundreds of people had gathered downtown the day before to watch Ronaldo arrive. Portugal supporter Steve Melo said he had to break the bank for tickets, and Paulo Moreira of Mississauga called seeing Portugal play in Toronto a gift.
Ivan Perišić put Croatia ahead in the 53rd minute. Cristiano Ronaldo equalized from the penalty spot in the 68th after a VAR review, the first World Cup knockout goal of his career according to BBC Sport, and Gonçalo Ramos headed Portugal in front in stoppage time. Croatia thought it had levelled again through Joško Gvardiol, but VAR ruled Mario Pašalić offside after a faint Igor Matanović touch on the cross, and the goal came off. Portugal won 2-1 and Croatia was out.
Luka Modrić, 40, and Ronaldo, 41, were both playing what could have been their last World Cups. Croatia arrived with recent history behind it: a 4-2 loss to France in the 2018 final and third place in Qatar in 2022.
What the fans brought and where they went
The uniform of the day was the red-and-white checkerboard from Croatia's crest, and it filled the stands on June 23. Fans carried cardboard cutouts of their heroes' faces in the march, and before kickoff Elena Dejanovic described the atmosphere with the Croatian word ludilo, which means madness. CP24 reported that organizers expected thousands of people in the procession.
Fans without tickets had the FIFA Fan Festival at Fort York. Toronto Mike visited on the day of the final and had a blast. He praised its organization, complained that the food and drink were overpriced and caught a Kardinal Offishall DJ set before the match. He also previewed the adidas Home of Soccer at STACKT Market on Bathurst Street on June 11, before it opened to the public, and called it a very cool space. It hosted a secret Jessie Reyez concert for invited guests at that preview.
Croatian Toronto beyond the tournament
Toronto Croatia was founded in 1956 by the city's Croatian diaspora, with Kreso Mance, Franjo Jurisic and Juraj Boljkovac listed as its original founders. It joined the Canadian National Soccer League in 1962, and as Toronto Metros-Croatia it won the North American Soccer League's Soccer Bowl in 1976, according to Wikipedia. The same page adds four Canadian National Soccer League championships, the latest in 1992, and six Canadian Soccer League titles between 2000 and 2015. It won the Croatian World Club Championship in 2007 and 2011 as well.
Father Kamber Croatia Park, which is tied to the Croatian Martyrs and Our Lady Queen of Croatia parishes, also runs bocce leagues. Ontario's next Croatian Heritage Day falls on May 30, 2027, under an act that received royal assent on April 25, 2024.
