Croatia vs Brazil Prediction | World Cup 2022 ‣ Betiton™

The Round of 16 has been and gone and we were treated to some fascinating matches to watch and place bets on. Now we are down to the final eight teams, and each match from now on should be a cracking one. In this Quarter-Final match up, Croatia has the unenviable task of trying to get past Brazil in order to book themselves a place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup Semi-Finals. This game will be played at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan on the 9th of December at 15:00 GMT, and if you are thinking about making some World Cup 2022 predictions for this match, you can do yourself a big favour by reading our Croatia vs Brazil prediction below.

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Croatia vs Brazil Preview

This last eight clash between Croatia and Brazil will be shown to British punters on either BBC 1 or ITV 1 – at the time of writing our prediction, the schedule was not out yet. Not to worry, though, just check the TV schedule for both channels a day before the game, and you will see what channel it is being shown live on. We recommend you tune into the coverage at least 30 minutes before kick-off so that you can soak up the atmosphere.

So, how is it that Croatia and Brazil have gone about making their way to the last eight of the Qatar 2022 World Cup? Well, below we have given you the teams that each have had to get by in order to make their way to the Quarter-Finals:

Croatia:

• Round of 16: Croatia 1 – Japan 1 (Croatia won 3-1 on penalties)

Brazil:

• Round of 16: Brazil 4 – South Korea 1

🏠 Croatia Form and Team News

Taking a bit of your time to have a look at how both teams have made it so far in the competition is something that you should always do when you are football betting. Why is this? Well, it is simply because of the fact that the form of a team can play a huge role when it comes to who will come out on top and advance to the next round. We believe in it so much that we’re going to set an example and do the same thing in our Croatia vs Brazil prediction. So, without further ado, let’s begin:

Croatia, as you can see from the table above, finished with one win and two draws in the Group Stage to finish second in their group with 5 points. The surprise of the group was Morocco and we bet not many football bettors had them finishing top of the table in a group that contained both Croatia and Belgium. Croatia’s first game of the competition was against Morocco, and the game finished in a 0-0 draw, although it must be said that it was more exciting than what the scoreline would suggest.

In their second match of the group stage, they took on Canada, and the Canadians took an early lead thanks to a bullet header from Alphonso Davis. However, all this did was wake the Croats up, and they went on to win the game 4-1. Croatia entered their last game of the Group Stage knowing that all they had to do to go through was avoid defeat to Belgium, and this is what they did, picking up a 0-0 draw to send themselves through to a meeting with Japan while sending Belgium crashing out.

For the Round of 16 game against the Japanese, Croatia started the game as slight favourites, but after Japan beat Germany and Spain to get to this stage, everyone knew that it was not going to be an easy game. Seven of Croatia’s previous eight knockout games at major international tournaments have all gone to extra time, so it really was not much of a surprise when it finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. The 30 minutes of extra-time was a period that was devoid of much quality as both sets of players were tired, so the game had to be settled by a penalty shootout. It was almost like the Japanese had never been in penalty shootout before because they took some of the worst penalties you will ever see, and the Croats held their nerve to make it through with a 3-1 win on penalties.

Borna Sosa missed out on the Round of 16 match with Japan due to a fever, but Croatia coach, Zlatko Dalić, should have a fully fit, albeit tired, set of players to choose from for their game against Brazil. When it comes to suspensions, he does not have any missing for this game, but if D. Lovren, L. Modrić, M. Kovačić, or B. Barišić pick up a yellow against the Brazilians, then they will be suspended for the Semi-Final, should they manage to make it there. All four are important players for Dalić, so he will be hoping that they will be able to keep their discipline against Brazil.

Croatia Starting Lineup

In their Round of 16 game with Japan, Croatia started with a 4-3-3 formation, and this is the formation that our Croatia vs Brazil prediction has it that they will go for in this match against Brazil. We are also pretty sure that he will opt for more or less the same starting XI that beat Japan on penalties. Therefore, we expect the Croats to line up like this:

• D. Livaković
• J. Juranović
• D. Lovren
• J. Gvardiol
• B. Sosa
• L. Modrić
• M. Brozović
• M. Kovačić
• A. Kramarić
• B. Petković
• I. Perišić

While other teams have plenty of squad depth that they can call upon should things be going wrong, the same really cannot be said of Croatia. At the end of the day, they are a small country and have really well to produce the quality players that they have over the years.

Croatia Players to Watch

Croatia have always managed to produce quality football players, and below we are going to take a closer look at three Croatian payers that you should keep an eye on when they take on Brazil at the Education City Stadium on the 9th of December:

• Luka Modric: He might be 37 years old now, but one cannot doubt just how important he is to his national team. Despite his age, the Real Madrid midfielder is still one of the best players in the world, and Brazil will be eager to stop him from pulling the strings in Croatia’s midfield. If he is left to his own devices, then he can cause absolute mayhem. Not only is he able to pick a pass, but he also knows where the back of the net is as can be seen from the 23 goals that he has scored for his country to date. If Croatia shock the world by beating Brazil, he’ll have played a major role
• Joško Gvardiol: The 20-year-old has already stated his desire to play for Real Madrid, and this is something that will probably happen in the very near future as he is one of the best young defenders around at this moment in time. The Croats have him to thank for getting this far in the tournament because it was some brilliant defending from him that prevented Romeleu Lukaku from sending them home. If he puts in a very good display against a really talented Brazilian attack, then he will definitely be signed by Real Madrid
• Andrej Kramarić: We do not imagine that Croatia will get many opportunities to find the back of the net against Brazil, but if a chance does come their way, then they will be hoping that someone such as Kramarić will be able to put it away. He has often been compared to the legendary Croat striker Davor Šuker, which is very strong praise indeed, and anyone with a Croatian persuasion will be hoping that he can channel his inner Šuker against the Brazilians and send Croatia through to the Semi-Finals

☍ Brazil Form and Team News

As can be seen from the second table that we provided you with above, Brazil, as many would have put their money on, finished at the top of the group. However, most who made football predictions on the tournament would have expected them to do so with nine points, not courtesy of their goal difference. In their first game of the tournament, they played Serbia and won the game 2-0 thanks to a brace from Richarlison – his second being an unbelievable overhead kick. Then, their next opponents were Switzerland, who defended really well, but could not prevent a late Casemiro goal from giving the Brazilians a 1-0 win and a place in the next round with a game left to play.

Since they had already made it through to the Round of 16, the Brazil manager, Tite, decided to make plenty of changes to his starting XI for their final group game against Cameroon. Although they made all these changes, many still would have fancied them to win the game. However, the African team knew that they had a very slight chance of qualifying themselves, so they put in a hearty performance and managed to win the game 1-0. However, since the Swiss beat Serbia in their final game, Cameroon were knocked out, but at least they have a win against Brazil on their CVs.

Brazil entered their Round of 16 game with South Korea as strong favourites, and they lived up to that billing by scoring 4 goals in the first half to put the South Koreans to the sword. South Korea, to their credit, did not give up despite the embarrassment that they were facing, and they scored a wonderful consolation goal in the second half to at least put a bit of respectability on the scoreline. However, it must be said that Brazil took it easy in the second 45 minutes, knowing that the game was all but won and the tougher assignments await.

When it comes to injuries, Tite has not been as fortunate as some other managers. Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus injured his knee in the game against Cameroon and has since gone back to England, while Alex Telles, who is on loan at Sevilla, picked up an injury that will require surgery and will see him out of action for quite some time. Ahead of their Round of 16 tie with South Korea, it was not known whether Neymar would recover from his ankle injury, but he did and he got some much-needed minutes under his belt against South Korea.

With regards to suspensions, there is nobody suspended for their match against Croatia, however both Militão and Fred have picked up a booking in this tournament, so if they get booked in this match, they will be suspended from the Semi-Final – remember that bookings are wiped out after the last eight.

Brazil Starting Lineup

The Brazil squad if full of talent with players that are known all over the world since they ply their trade in some of the best leagues in the world such as La Liga, the EPL, and Ligue 1. In their game against South Korea, Tite lined up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and we would not be surprised if this is what he opted for during their game against Croatia. Our Croatia vs Brazil prediction also has it that he will stick to the same starting XI that he chose for their clash against South Korea, so this is what we think his starting XI will be:

• Alisson
• Danilo
• T. Silva
• Marquinhos
• E. Militão
• L. Paquetá
• Casemiro
• Neymar
• Raphina
• V. Junior
• Richarlison

If these players are struggling, then Tite has a lot of talent on the bench that he can decide to call upon. For example, there is Fabinho, Rodrygo, Antony, Pedro, Martinelli, and Guimarães. There are not many teams out there that have such squad depth.

Brazil Players to Watch

It is not easy to choose three Brazilian players to keep an eye on in one match, but we have given it our best shot. Therefore, below you can find three players that we recommend you watch close when Brazil take on Croatia:

• Richarlison: The Tottenham Hotspur striker has plenty of critics due to the way that he acts on the field at time, but nobody can deny that he is a very talented striker as he has shown with the three goals that he has scored in this tournament so far. The Croatian defenders will be very wary of him, and we definitely would not be surprised if he scored a goal – he scores every second game for his country
• Neymar: Neymar, like Richarlison, is yet another player who sees nothing wrong with throwing himself to the floor in order to gain some sort of advantage, but once again there is no denying his talent. He often helps open up space for his teammates because opponents feel the need to double up on him in order to stop him. He is a top-quality goalscorer as can be seen from the fact that he has scored 76 goals in 123 appearances for his country
• Thiago Silva: The Chelsea defender might be nearing 40 years of age, but we are not exaggerating when we say that he is still one of the best defenders in the game. Throughout his career, he has played with the likes of AC Milan, PSG, and Chelsea, so experience in high pressure games is obviously something that he is not lacking. The Croatian players will have to do something special to get past him, and we are looking forward to seeing this battle unfold

Brazil vs South Korea Betting Odds

At Betiton, there is one thing that we always want to do, and this is provide all of our bettors with top WC 2022 betting odds since we believe that you all deserve the chance to get the most that you can from your hard-earned money. No matter the market that you would like to place some World Cup bets on, we guarantee that we will always offer some of the best odds around. Many of our football betting fans like to put their money on markets like Match Winner and the Total Goals Scored, so below we have supplied with the odds that we are currently offering for both markets.

Match Winner

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Who Will Win? Croatia vs Brazil Prediction

So, what do we recommend for those of you who want to do a spot of online sports betting on this Quarter-Final game, but are not too sure as to who you should bet on? Well, for us, there should only be one outcome in this game, and our Croatia vs Brazil prediction is that this game is a win for Brazil. Croatia have only won one game from the four that they have played, and they do not score that many, so we do not see them outscoring the Brazilians. Croatia will do their best to make it difficult for Brazil, but Brazil’s talent should shine in the end, which is why we would bet on them to win if we were doing some to World Cup betting on this game.

Our Croatia vs Brazil prediction: Brazil to win.

Our Croatia vs Brazil Betting Tips

What other World Cup tips can we give you for this game? Well, since the odds for Brazil to win are quite low, we recommend that you think about making an Asian handicap bet on Brazil to win. For example, if you were to give them a –1.75 goal deficit, then you can increase the odds to 2.38, and it is not beyond the realms of reality for Brazil to win by two goals.

If you happen to be the type of football gambler that likes to bet on particular players to be booked, then you might want to consider putting your cash on Casemiro or Kovačić to enter the ref’s notebook because these are two players that love nothing more than putting in a tackle in the middle of the park.