The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has seen many surprises, including the performance of Croatia. But truth be told, the side led by Luka Modric have just proven that their run to the 2018 World Cup final was not a one-off affair. After going through the tournament unbeaten and major endurance has seen them reach the semifinals for a second consecutive time.
Here, we take a look at Croatia's journey to the semis of the World Cup:
Goals scored: 6
Goals conceded: 3
Top scorer: Andres Kramaric — 2 goals
Turning point of the tournament
Croatia played their Round of 16 tie against surprise package Japan, who topped Group E while Croatia came second in Group F. Japan scored a goal in the first half of the match but after that, Croatia came back with aplomb. They overcome a strong Japanese challenge to beat them 3-1 in the penalty shootout.
Semifinal: vs Argentina
Croatia will face Argentina in the first semifinal of the FIFA World Cup. The match is set to happen at the Lusail Stadium on Wednesday (December 14) morning at 12:30 am IST. All matches will be telecast on Sports 18 Network HD/SD and MTV HD, and live broadcast on JIO Cinema.
First match: Morocco 0-0 Croatia
Croatia's first match in the group stage was against Morocco. It was a goalless draw, but the Croatians were quite attacking, with a total of five shots on target but not a single one went into the goal.
Second Match: Croatia 4-1 Canada
Croatia faced a Canadian team playing in the World Cup after 36 years. In this game, Alphonso Davies gave Canada an early lead, just 68 seconds into the match. But Croatia made a strong comeback to win the match 4-1. Andres Kramaric scored twice, while scored by Marko Livaja and Lovro Majer bagged one goal each.
Third Match: Croatia 0:0 Belgium
After defeating Canada in a must-win game, Croatia faced a strong Belgium side in their final group-stage match. The underperforming Red Devils needed a win to make it through. Their striker Romelu Lukaku missed many golden chances to score, and the match ended in a goalless draw to make their place in the Round of 16.
Round of 16: Japan 1-1 Croatia (1-3 AET)
Croatia faced Japan in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. After the Japanese Samurais scored the first goal via a Daizen Maeda strike, Croatia mounted their second comeback of the competition. Ivan Perisic scored the equaliser take time the game all the way to penalties, and some brilliant goalkeeper by Dominik Livakovic took the 2018 finalists to the Quarters.
Quarterfinal: Croatia 1-1 Brazil (4-2 AET)
Livakovic was the hero once again, and this time it was against five-time champions Brazil. After sustaining a barrage of shots, Neymar eventually gave Brazil a one-goal lead in extra. But in the 117th minute, Croatia's Bruno Petkovic scored a goal to bring Croatia back on par. In the penalty shootout, Croatia scored four goals in four attempts to defeat Brazil 4-2.
