Croatia – Faroe Islands, Getty Images November 15, 2025, 11:22 am

Croatia officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup with a convincing 3-1 win over the Faroe Islands in a qualifying match at the Rujevica Stadium in Rijeka. Zlatko Dalych’s team guaranteed themselves first place in Group L for the round before qualifying.

Despite the dominance of the home team from the first minutes, it was the guests who unexpectedly took the lead: in the 16th minute, Geza David Turi passed through the center and scored with a low shot, and the ball after a ricochet from Vushkovich ended up in the net — 0:1.

Croatia reacted quickly. Already in the 23rd minute, Yoshko Guardiol collected a rebound in the penalty area, moved under his left foot and powerfully shot into the far corner – 1:1.

In the second half, the hosts increased the pressure and took the lead in the 57th minute, when Petar Musa expertly converted a pass from Josyp Stanisych. And in the 70th minute, Nikola Vlašych put an end to the match by heading Ivan Perišych’s cross.

For your attention, a video of the best moments of the match between Croatia and the Faroe Islands as part of the World Cup 2026 selection:

Croatia – Faroe Islands 3:1
Goals: Guardiol, 23, Musa, 57, Vlashych, 70 — Turi, 16

Croatia: Livakovic – Guardiol, Vushkovic, Stanisic – Perisic (Orsic, 71), Mario Pasalic (Sutalo, 46), Modric (Vlasic, 61), Marko Pasalic (Fruk, 61) – Kramaric, Musa (Matanovic, 74), Suchic

Faroe Islands: Lamgauge – Edmundsson, Vatngamar, Fere – Davidsen (Klettskaard, 85), Andreasen, Turi (Bjartalid, 68), Jensen – Sørensen (Agnarsson, 77), Olsen (Knudsen, 68), Frederiksberg (Justinussen, 77)

Warning: Turi, Bjartalid