Brazil vs Croatia 0-0, Quarter Finals: After beating Japan by 3-1 on penalties, Croatia will face hot favourites Brazil in Quarter-finals. This will be the fourth time both teams will meet each other, with South American giants winning each of the previous three encounters.
Talking about Brazil first, they cruised past South Korea by 4-1 in the round of 16, scoring all four goals in the first half. Vinicius Jr. opened the scoring chart in the 7th minute. Star player Neymar scored from the penalty spot six minutes later. Richarlison continued his excellent form and scored in the 29th minute, with Lucas Paqueta scoring the fourth goal for Brazil seven minutes later. On the other hand, Paik scored the only goal from his side in the 76th minute.
Moving forward, they’ll play against Croatia in the quarter-finals, who overcame Japan in the round of 16 on penalties.
Brazil vs Croatia Quarter Finals: Brazil Probable Starting XI (4-3-3)
Alisson, Militao, Marquinhos, Silva, Danilo, Paqueta, Casemiro, Neymar, Raphinha, Richarlison, Vinicius
Bench:
Weverton, Ederson, Bremer, Alves, Fabinho, Guimaraes, Fred, Everton, Martinelli, Antony, Rodrygo, Pedro.
On the other hand, Croatia overcame exciting Japan in the round of 16 on penalties. Maeda scored the first goal of the game for Japan two minutes before the end of the first half. At the start of the second half, Perisic scored the equaliser with a brilliant header.
No team scored any other goal till the end of full-time. In the two 15-minute halves of extra-time, both teams failed to create any big goal-scoring chances, and the game went to be decided on penalties where Croatia won by 3-1 with the disadvantages of Vlasic, Brozovic, and Pasalic; as for Japan, only Asano was able to hit the target, with Takumi, Mitoma, and Yoshida failing to score from the 12 yards.
Moving forward, they’ll face hot favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals, who hammered South Korea by 4-1 in the round of 16.
Left-back Borna Sosa missed the game against Japan due to illness and is doubtful to play against Brazil
Brazil vs Croatia Quarter Finals: Croatia Probable Starting XI (4-3-3)
Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Barisic, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Kramaric, Livaja, Perisic
Bench:
Grbic, Ivusic, Erlic, Vida, Sutalo, Sosa, Jakic, Sucic, Majer, Osric, Pasalic, Petkovic, Budimir, Vlasic
Brazil vs Croatia Quarter Finals Match Facts:
* Location: Doha, Qatar
* Stadium: Education City Stadium
* Date: 9 December, Friday
* Kick-off Time: 15:00 GMT / 10:00 ET / 07:00 PT
Brazil vs Croatia Quarter Finals: Conclusion
Hot favourites Brazil progressed to the quarter-finals after another stunning performance. They would like to continue their brilliant run against Croatia as well, who, on the other hand, cruised past Japan in the round of 16 and will be looking forward to producing good results against South American giants and book their tickets to the semi-finals which, to be honest, seems complicated given the squad strength of their opponents.
