The second round of matches in Group F of the 2022 World Cup includes a meeting between Croatia and Canada.
The game will take place at the Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan on the 27th of November. As things stand in the group, Croatia are second on 1 point while Canada are bottom of the group on 0 points.
Intensity. 📸 #FIFAWorldCup #Vatreni #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/RHNkwIzy7A— HNS (@HNS_CFF) November 24, 2022
Intensity. 📸 #FIFAWorldCup #Vatreni #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/RHNkwIzy7A
Croatia come into the match on the back of a disappointing 0-0 draw with Morocco. Croatia were below their best and a draw was probably a fair result but with this game against Canada and a match against Belgium still to come, Croatia would have been hoping for maximum points against Morocco.
However, that result means Croatia are undefeated in their 7 most recent games in all competitions. They defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in a friendly prior to the World Cup and went undefeated in their final 5 Nations League fixtures.
Croatia beat Denmark home and away plus France away and Austria away in what was an impressive run of results in the Nations League. Croatia topped the group and will play in the Nations League Finals.
Trends show Croatia have been good defensively in recent matches and they have kept a clean sheet in 4 of their last 6 games, including friendlies. Croatia have found the back of the net at least once in 14 of their last 16 matches.
Canada find themselves bottom of Group F having lost 1-0 to Belgium in their opening game of the 2022 World Cup. The Canadians were the huge outsiders to win the match but produced a tremendous performance.
Canada missed a penalty while on top in the first half and conceded the only goal of the game shortly before the interval.
That result means Canada have won only 1 of their 4 most recent fixtures in all competitions. They played a series of friendly games in September and November and recorded a good 2-1 win over Japan.
However, Canada were also held to a draw by Bahrain and were defeated 2-0 by Uruguay.
Trends show Canada have had trouble keeping clean sheets and they have conceded goals in 5 of their last 6 matches in all competitions.
Including the group games they played at the 1986 World Cup, Canada have lost all 4 of their previous matches in the tournament and have yet to score a goal.
Team news and Croatia have a fully fit squad available for this match. Mario Pašalić may come into the attack having been used a substitute against Morocco.
Canada could hand a start to striker Cyle Larin, who was disappointed to have started on the bench against Belgium. John Herdman is unlikely to make any other changes.
Canada need to improve their finishing but could find it tough against a Croatian defence that has not been conceding many goals. Just a single goal could be enough for Croatia to take maximum points and move one step closer to the knockout stages.