Brazil will play their 17th world cup quarter-final (their eighth successive one), which is stunning because this is the 22nd edition of the championship. As a stark contrast, Croatia will play their third quarter-final tonight.
Overview
Brazil and Croatia will head toward the match with the possibility of a semi-final clash against the winner of the Netherlands vs Argentina match. While Brazil have been pre-tournament favourites because of their excellent form and strength, Croatia will start the match as the underdogs.
Teams
Croatia
Since placing third at their first World Cup finals back in 1998, Croatia has been involved in extra time play in seven of their past eight knockout games at major championships. Since Euro 2020, they haven’t lost in any of their last 20 games across all competitions and have gone unbeaten in their last 10 international matches.
Brazil
With their thrilling performance against South Korea in the round of 16, the Selecao made a strong signal to the rest of the competition.The five-time champions’ performance against the Asian team was their most complete one of the competition. It served as a reminder to everyone as to why Brazil are the favourites to win a sixth world cup.
Head-to-Head
Brazil have played against Croatia four times before and won three of those. Croatia managed to avoid defeat only once in the match that ended in a draw. Two previous matches took place at the world cup in 2006 and 2014. Brazil won both.
Key Players
With Neymar back in the game, Brazil look stronger than before. With Vinicius Junior, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta around, they won’t give any breathing space to Croatia. Zlatko Dalic’s team have struggled to score in this tournament, with the only exception being the match against Canada. Andrej Kramaric, who scored twice in that game, will be a key player to watch.
Date, Time & Venue
The Croatia vs Brazil match will be played on December 9 at 08:30 PM (Indian time) in the Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan.
Live-streaming Details
The Croatia vs Brazil match will be broadcast live on the Sports18 and Sports18 HD TV channels in India and Jio Cinema’s app and website will both offer free live streaming of the event.
Prediction
Brazil will be too hot to handle for Croatia. The South American team will storm into the semi-finals with a 3-0 win.
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