Croatia Continue to Surprise at the World Cup

10/12/22 988

Few people, other their own fans, were talking about Croatia ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Despite reaching the final in 2018, Croatia were overlooked as potential winners of the 2022 event, with the likes of Argentina, Brazil, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium all ahead of them.

However, we are at the semi-final stage of the competition and Croatia are still standing.

Croatia’s journey as a nation at the World Cup can be traced back to the 1998 competition in France. Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Croatia was not a FIFA member in 1994 but did manage to qualify for the World Cup at the first attempt in 1998.

The squad was full of talented players, including Slaven Bilić, Robert Prosinečki, Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Mario Stanić, and Robert Jarni. Croatia beat Jamaica and Japan to finish second in their group and defeated Romania 1-0 in the round of 16. Into the quarter final and Croatia recorded a stunning 3-0 win over Germany before losing to eventual winners, France.

Croatia soon disappeared off the scene in terms of the latter stages of the World Cup. They were eliminated from the group stage in 2002 and 2006 plus failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Croatia were again eliminated from the competition at the group stage in 2014 but things changed in 2018.

Much like the current World Cup, no one was discussing Croatia as potential winners of the tournament. However, a closer look at their team showed they had some genuine talent at their disposal. Ivan Perišić, Dejan Lovren, Ivan Rakitić, Mateo Kovačić, Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović, and Mario Mandžukić were all playing for top European clubs.

Croatia enjoyed a tremendous group stage, beating Nigeria, Iceland, and Argentina to top the group with maximum points. The 3-0 win over Argentina was a standout result and performance. Into the round of 16 and Croatia beat Denmark on penalties following a 1-1 draw and did the same to Russia following a 2-2 draw. Into the semi-final and Croatia came from behind to beat England 2-1 in extra time only to lose to France in the final.

If we look back at the 2018 World Cup, we can see similarities with the 2022 World Cup. Croatia finished the group stage undefeated and required extra time and penalties to beat Japan and Brazil in the round of 16 and quarter final, respectively. Croatia have won all 4 of their penalty shootouts at World Cup tournaments and Argentina will need to be wary of that fact when they play the semi-final.

Including the third/fourth playoff, Croatia have played 8 games in the knockout stages of the World Cup and won 6 times. Both defeats have come against France, one of which was in the final four years ago.

Croatia know what it takes to win in the knockout stages of the World Cup and should they take the semi-final with Argentina to extra time, Croatia will fancy their chances.