Ante Budimir only needed nine minutes to lead Croatia to a vital victory and create history at the FIFA World Cup.
Budimir came off the bench at half-time and scored in the 54th-minute as 2018 runners-up Croatia edged Panama 1-0 to kick-start their Group L campaign in Toronto on Wednesday (AEST).
Croatia were coming off a 4-2 loss to England in their opening match and while it was less than convincing, they recorded a much-needed win over their CONCACAF opponents, who were eliminated in the process.
Budimir’s introduction was a masterstroke from head coach Zlatko Dalic, who turned to the 34-year-old striker after an underwhelming opening 45 minutes.
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With his match-winning goal, Budimir (34 years, 337 days) became Croatia’s oldest-ever World Cup goalscorer, surpassing the previous record set by Ivica Olic against Cameroon in 2014 (34 years and 277 days).
With his seventh international goal, he made himself a Croatian hero. But, Budimir is certainly no stranger to the spotlight.
He is an Osasuna legend in Spain. He is Osasuna’s all-time leading goalscorer in LaLiga history – a record set in March 2025 after scoring his 58th league goal, eclipsing club great Sabino Andonegui.
As it stands, Budimir has 82 LaLiga goals to his name with Osasuna, having also netted 13 during his time with Mallorca.
In the past two seasons, the veteran has finished third in LaLiga’s Golden Boot race. In 2024-25, his 21 goals were only bettered by Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe (31) and Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (27).
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Last season, Budimir scored 17 goals – behind Mbappe (25) and Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi (23) as he helped Osasuna avoid relegation to the second tier on goal difference.
“His club isn’t on the level of Real Madrid or Barcelona, yet he’s third on the top scorers list, behind Mbappé and Lewandowski,” Dalic said at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
“He works hard, and scores goals. If he played for Real or Barcelona, he might’ve scored 40 goals
“He plays for a smaller club that defends more — he’s the one keeping Osasuna going. His goals are worth even more because of that. I can only praise him.”
Croatia will conclude their group campaign against Ghana on June 28, while Panama meet England.
