Croatia vs Brazil Prediction and Betting Tips

Brazil and Croatia will continue their quest for glory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup when they square off at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan on Friday.

The two sides will kickstart proceedings in the quarterfinals, with a semifinal clash against either Argentina or the Netherlands waiting for the winner.

Five-time champions Brazil sent an emphatic statement to the rest of the competition with their exhilarating performance against South Korea in the round of 16.

A breathtaking first-half display saw the Selecao take a four-goal lead inside the opening 36 minutes, with Vinicius Junior, Neymar, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta all scoring.

It was inarguably Brazil's most well-rounded display at the tournament and enabled them to enter second gear for most of the second half. It also reminded everybody of why Tite's men are the favorites to win a sixth world title after a couple of lukewarm outings in the group stage.

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For Croatia, their path to the last eight has been less straightforward. Having qualified from the group stage by the skin of their teeth, they needed penalties to see off Japan in the last round.

Daizen Maeda put the Asians ahead just before halftime but Ivan Perisic leveled matters with a bullet header in the 55th minute. The goal saw the Tottenham man move level with the great Davor Suker as Croatia's leading goalscorer in World Cup history with six goals.

Neither side could find a winner in regular time, prompting a grueling extra time that also failed to settle the contest. A penalty shootout followed and Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was the star of the show as he became only the third goalkeeper in history to save three spot-kicks in a World Cup shootout.

Croatia vs Brazil Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides. Brazil have three wins to their name, while one match ended in a draw. The South Americans were also victorious in each of their previous two meetings at the World Cup against Croatia.
Neymar is two goals away from surpassing Pele as his nation's all-time leading goalscorer. He scored a brace in a 4-1 victory over Croatia in the 2014 World Cup.
Croatia have won all three of their World Cup penalty shootouts.
All of Brazil's five eliminations from the World Cup since 1990 have come at the hands of European opposition.
Croatia have lost just one of their last 20 international matches, winning 13 and drawing six.

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Croatia vs Brazil Prediction

Confidence must be running high in the Brazilian camp and the normally reticent Tite joining in on dance celebrations against South Korea is indicative of a tight team spirit.

The 61-year-old was able to rest several of his key players earlier than expected against the Koreans, allowing them to preserve much-needed energy for their quarterfinal.

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Croatia have lived up to their billing as the masters of going the distance and the 2018 runners-up will have to bring their dogged tenacity to the fore if they are to get anything against Brazil.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic is likely to prioritize compact defensiveness to try and limit Brazil's attacking threat. However, Neymar, Vinicius and Richarlison will be confident of breaking any rearguard in their current form.

Prediction: Croatia 1-3 Brazil