Brazil, who have been chasing an elusive World Cup title for 20 years, is playing in the quarter-finals for the eighth time in a row. Last World Cup finalist Croatia as a rival. This time, the country, which became independent in 1991, is playing in the World Cup for only the sixth time. Even if Brazil is the favorite in the quarter-finals, the Croats will not give up. They want to remove the regret of never being able to beat Brazil.
Croatia in front of Brazil in the Hexa mission. The two teams will meet in the first quarter-final match at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan on Friday (December 9) at 9 pm Bangladesh time. Brazil, the hot favorite of the World Cup, blew away South Korea in the last sixteen matches. On the other hand, Croatia, which is undefeated so far in the tournament, defeated another Asian superpower, Japan, in a tiebreaker.
Historically, Brazil has to be kept in its favorite place in the match against Croatia. The Croats have never tasted defeat against Brazil since making their debut as an independent nation after the breakup of Yugoslavia. But there is also fear news for Brazil, who have tasted defeat three times in the last four consecutive quarter-finals.
Keeping the high voltage match ahead, let’s know some important information-
Brazil has reached the quarter-finals for the eighth time in a row, having played in all the World Cups. Among them, they played three consecutive finals in 1994, 1998 and 2002 and won the cup twice. However, after 2002, they have been able to cross the quarter-final barrier only once. Hosts Brazil lost 7-1 against Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.
This time, Croatia is on the World Cup stage for the sixth time. Their best success in the World Cup was the 2018 World Cup final. In 1998, the Croats reached the semi-finals on their debut. They lost their dreams of the finals against France. Between 1998-2018, they played in three more tournaments, but they left each time from the group stage.
After being undefeated champions in the 2002 World Cup, Brazil has not lost more than one match in any tournament except the 2014 World Cup. Only in 2014, after losing 7-1 against Germany in the semi-final at home, they also lost 3-0 against the Netherlands in the third-place match.
Croatia is unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 matches in the World Cup. The only loss was against France in the 2018 World Cup final.
Brazil has made it to the World Cup after going undefeated in the qualifying round of the South American region. After winning the first two matches of the group stage in the Qatar World Cup, they lost against Cameroon in the third match. Neymar-Vinicius-Richardson beat South Korea 4-1 in the last 16 matches.
Only one match in Qatar World Cup saw Croatia win in the allotted 90 minutes. In the third match of the group stage, they beat Canada 4-1. They drew against Morocco and Belgium in the first two matches of the group stage. The Croatians won the tiebreaker 3-2 after a 1-1 tie against Japan in the last 16 after regulation and extra time.
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Brazil is unbeaten in four matches against Croatia so far. Brazil, who have won all three matches, drew in one match. Brazil-Croatia matches have been held twice in the World Cup so far. Brazil has won twice. Kaka scored the only goal in his 2006 World Cup debut as Brazil defeated the Croatians. Brazil-Croatia met in the first match of the 2014 World Cup. Brazil beat Croatia 3-1 with two goals from Neymar.
Brazil has faced tiebreakers four times in the World Cup so far. They have won three times. In the 1986 World Cup, Brazil won the tiebreaker for the first time. Brazil lost 4-3 to France in that match. In the 1994 World Cup final, Brazil again in a tiebreaker. This time, however, Romario-Dungara won 3-2 against Italy. Ronaldo-Rivaldora beat the Netherlands 4-2 in the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup. Neymar defeated Chile 3-2 in the tiebreaker in the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup.
Croatia has played in tiebreakers three times so far in the World Cup and has emerged victorious each time. Luka Modric’s team beat Denmark in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup and Russia in the quarter-finals in a tiebreaker. In the current World Cup in Qatar, they defeated Japan in the last sixteen in a tiebreaker.
Neymar will touch Pele if he scores one goal for Brazil. A pair of goals would overtake Pele to become the top goalscorer in Brazil’s jersey.