Brazil has maintained its spot as the favorite to win this World Cup and isn’t expected to lose in the quarterfinals either. Brazil is heavily favored to beat Croatia and become the first team to advance to a semifinal.
The Selecao are the biggest favorite of any of the quarterfinals. Croatia plays the role of underdog despite making a World Cup final more recently than the storied Brazilians. The 2018 runner-up is hoping to make another memorable run while Brazil hasn’t made a final since winning the tournament in 2002.
Brazil vs. Croatia
Kickoff time: Friday 10 a.m. ET/3 p.m. GMT
Venue: Education City, Al Rayyan
How they got here:
Brazil
- 2-0 W vs. Serbia
- 1-0 W vs. Switzerland
- 0-1 L vs. Cameroon
- 4-1 W vs. South Korea (Round of 16)
Croatia
- 0-0 D vs. Morocco
- 4-1 W vs. Canada
- 0-0 D vs. Belgium
- 1-1 D (3-1 W on penalties) vs. Japan (Round of 16)
| Team | To Advance | Total |
|---|---|---|
|
-650 |
O 2.5 (-130) |
|
|
+380 |
U 2.5 (-110) |
Brazil is not only more talented, but comes in as the more rested team. Brazil switched out most of its team for the group finale against Cameroon and then put away South Korea before halftime in the Round of 16. Brazil even subbed goalkeepers late against the Koreans to get Weverton his World Cup debut.
Neymar returned from injury and looked healthy. He had an assist and converted a penalty before the match was 15 minutes old. It was showtime for Brazil, as it has been at multiple times in this tournament.
Contrast a well-rested and unstressed Brazil with a Croatia team that barely got out of its group and needed a penalty shootout to get by Japan. These two teams open the quarterfinals and will be playing on just three days of rest while Friday’s other quarterfinal teams, Argentina and the Netherlands, will be playing after having five days off since playing in the Round of 16.
Croatia star Luka Modric is 37, which doesn’t bode well in this tightly scheduled tournament. Modric was subbed off in the 99th minute against Japan, a sign that Croatia is managing his minutes knowing that he can’t play every minute of the tournament.
Brazil has plenty of depth and has taken advantage of it. Plus, the team is overcoming injuries suffered early in the tournament.
There are plenty of ways to state how good Brazil has been at World Cups, but this is the country’s eighth straight quarterfinal appearance. That’s staggering, but so is the fact that they’ve lost three of the last four in this round.
Croatia is 2-0 in quarterfinals as an independent nation, beating Germany in 1998 and Russia in 2018. Brazil and Croatia have played twice in World Cup history with Brazil winning both matches in the group stage in 2006 and 2014.
Pre-match reading
Luka Modric is near the end of a glorious Croatia career – these are moments to savour
Brazil 4-1 South Korea: Richarlison wonder goal, Tite’s dancing, Neymar one short of Pele’s record
Irresistible Brazilians saunter to triumph
Expert Picks
| Writer | Pick |
|---|---|
|
Ed Malyon |
|
|
Dan Santaromita |
|
|
Andrew DeWitt |
|
|
Jeff Rueter |
|
|
John Hayes |
(Photo of Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, Lucas Paqueta and Neymar: Francois Nel / Getty Images)
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