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Philadelphia rounded out its FIFA World Cup group stage games with a 2-1 win by Croatia over Ghana. Despite the rainy conditions on Saturday, the attendance was a fourth-straight full house of 68,324.
The fifth World Cup game at Philadelphia Stadium this summer seemed as though it had the lowest stakes, with Ghana having already secured its spot in the knockout rounds and Croatia with half a foot in. England, the other Group L team already headed for the round of 32, played its final group game at the same time in nearby East Rutherford, N.J.
Neither Croatia nor Ghana played as if a draw was good enough though, and England didn’t find the net into the middle of the second half against a Panama side that failed to score a goal this tournament
The day before the game, thousands of Croatia’s fans in Philly gathered near Con Murphy’s Irish Pub on the Ben Franklin Parkway to sing, drink and revel in the World Cup atmosphere. They then carried a 330-foot banner that read “Croatia Proud, Philly Loud,” along the parkway to City Hall.
Bosko Katic, originally from Croatia but now based in Dallas, helped lead the march, waving a giant flag and also taking turns on the drum.
“The national team is like a second family to all of us. So yeah, that’s why you see all these people here and they’re supporting from all over the world,” Katic said.
Katic and others even crashed a wedding party in front of City Hall.
“This is my first time here, actually,” he added. “I love it. It reminds me of our capital city [Zagreb] back home and it’s really nice. It’s kind of like we are at home.”
Andrew Dargento, 15, and his family made the three-hour drive from Long Island for the game. He said he fell in love with the Croatian team. He said Friday’s gathering was a great way to take in Philly and celebrate the unifying power that soccer can have.
“We’re in the City of Brotherly Love. I think it’s a great event celebrating this passion we have as Croatians,” he said.
Kristina Runje and Andrew Dargento came from Long Island, N.Y. for Croatia’s World Cup games against Ghana in Philadelphia. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn) 
Three generations of the Drazic family came in from Nassau County, Long Island, for the Croatia fans rally and the game: 83-year-old Ivan, 48-year-old John and 5-year-old Patrick. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn) 
Adriana Vukmanic(from left), Matij Vukovic and Amanda Ofak, members of Kolo Club “Marian,” a traditional Croatian music troupe in Steelton, Pa. came down for Croatia’s FIFA World Cup game against Ghana in Philly. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)
Adriana Vukmanic, Amanda Ofak and Mateh Vukovic came in for the game from Steelton, Pa., just outside of Harrisburg, dressed in traditional Croatian garb. They and their group were members of Kolo Club “Marian,” a traditional Croatian music troupe.
Vukovic said it was amazing that the World Cup was only a two-hour drive away. He did have one gripe about the game though.
“Being it’s America, we had to pay a little bit extra, so it was a little tough to get them,” Vukovic said.
Philly native and military veteran Nazim Satar managed to win two free tickets for the game at a giveaway held at Lion Sports Bar in Chinatown.
“I’m actually going with my best friend that I deployed with,” he said. “She’s Croatian and she convinced me to come to the bar tonight.”
On gameday in the Jetro Lot of the Sports Complex, the Ghanaian fans — many of whom gathered and marched up from FDR Park — gathered around the vehicles and tents that were willing to shell out $125 for a space in the lot.
Dylan Onwona-Agyeman, a student-athlete on the Ohio State Buckeyes soccer team, juggled the ball with three young fans of the Ghanaian team.
“I went once in 2010, so it’s been a long time,” Onwona-Agyeman said. “But even to see them play and obviously to have even this many Ghanaians around, it could be a thousand or it could be 10, it still feels like home.”
Croatia come out on top in Philly, behind England in group
The weather gods seemed to take pity on the fans in the stands and eased off the rain right before the opening ceremonies of the game.
Before the game kicked off, there was a minute of silence for the victims of the two devastating earthquakes in Venezuela on Wednesday.
Croatia’s Nikola Vlasic was nearly the first to break the deadlock in the 17th minute, but his long-range effort glanced the outside of the right goal post.
Croatia’s sustained pressure eventually paid off in the 31st minute when Petar Sukic found himself with space to shoot from range, becoming the first player to score against Ghana this tournament.
Ghana’s star winger Antoine Semenyo nearly found the equalizer for Ghana in the 40th minute.
Ghana came out of the half time break looking to take more chances, with Semenyo spearheading the attempts.
Meanwhile in New Jersey, England’s Jude Belllingham scored for England off a set piece to lift them back on top of the group.
England quickly doubled their lead with captain Harry Kane five minutes later.
Ghana thought they scored an equalizer in the 73rd minute through Derrick Luckassen volley from a set piece, but the goal was immediately ruled out due to the referees believing that a player in an offside position interfering with play. The Ghanaian fans’ cheers for the goal changed to chants for VAR — the video assistant referee — and the referee went to the pitchside monitor to review the call. When he overturned his decision and awarded the goal the Ghana fans were in raptures.
Croatia nearly took the lead again in the 82nd minute, but Ghana goalkeeper Benjamin Asare was able to save Mario Pasalic’s shot.
Asare wasn’t able to reach Nikola Vlasic’s header from the resulting corner, with captain Luka Modrić — who looked at least 10 years younger than his 40 the entire game — taking the corner.
Ghana fans’ agony was compounded when Semenyo went down clutching his ankle, but he returned to the field to see out the game.
The results of both games put England in first, headed to play in Atlanta on July 1. Croatia finished second and will take on the second-placed team in Group K in Toronto on July 2. Ghana in third has to wait and see which team it will face and where in the round of 32.
Next up in South Philly is the big one,a round of 16 match on the Fourth of July. The matchup will be between the winners of the round of 36 game between Germany and Paraguay in Boston on June 29, and the matchup between France and Sweden on June 30 in New Jersey.
France played in Philly’s third World Cup game, winning 3-0 against Iraq in the longest weather delayed game in World Cup history.
Philly got a taste of what this game could look like last year, during the FIFA Club World Cup game between Chelsea and Palmeiras. Chelsea went on to win that tournament.
