Panama and Croatia face elimination in Toronto as crypto makes its World Cup debut

Two teams staring down World Cup elimination will meet at BMO Field in Toronto on June 23, and the stakes couldn’t be cleaner. Panama and Croatia both lost their opening Group L matches, meaning the loser in Toronto is almost certainly done.

Panama fell to Ghana 0-1 in their opener, conceding a goal in the 95th minute. Manager Thomas Christiansen pointed to his team’s 11 shots in the match as evidence they weren’t outplayed, just out-timed.

Croatia, meanwhile, got into a track meet with England and lost 2-4. Manager Zlatko Dalic was blunt about the performance, saying there’s “no room for error” going forward and calling out his team’s set-piece defending specifically.

The match is scheduled for 19:00 local time, listed as Match 46 in the tournament’s schedule. Toronto’s significant Croatian diaspora is expected to turn BMO Field into something resembling a home match for Dalic’s squad, with cultural events planned around the city in the lead-up to kickoff.

Kraken was announced as FIFA’s first Official Crypto Exchange Supporter on June 9, 2026. That’s logo placement across the most-watched sporting event on Earth, with an estimated global audience in the billions. FIFA has been notoriously selective about its official partnerships, and the creation of a new sponsorship category specifically for a crypto exchange signals that the governing body sees digital assets as a permanent fixture in the sports economy.

Meanwhile, prediction markets have emerged as perhaps the most tangible bridge between crypto and mainstream sports engagement. Over $2 billion in wagers were placed across World Cup-specific prediction market venues before the tournament’s opening whistle, with dedicated betting lines available for individual matches including Panama vs. Croatia.

Major exchange partnerships with global sporting events historically correlate with upticks in platform signups and trading volume. When Crypto.com secured naming rights for the former Staples Center in Los Angeles, it triggered a measurable wave of new user acquisition. Kraken’s FIFA tie-up operates on a significantly larger stage.

The $2 billion prediction market figure demonstrates that crypto-native financial products can attract mainstream consumer behavior at scale. Prediction markets carry regulatory risk, with several jurisdictions still figuring out how to classify and oversee them.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.