Checkmate Brazil: Croatia to the semifinals!

Croatia is the first team through to the semifinals of the Qatar World Cup after eliminating Brazil on penalties. With the win, Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić sends his national team through to the World Cup semifinal for the second consecutive year after managing to reach the final in 2018. The five-time champions Brazil will not earn their sixth championship star.

The first half was evenly matched and produced very few clear chances at the Education City Stadium. The Croatian team started the match more lively than their opponents, with Luka Modrić and Mateo Kovačić at the helm. As time went by, both teams began to balance their strengths, and neither managed to generate too much danger. Brazil had the clearest chance of the first 45 minutes. Vinicius Junior made a good play with Richarlison and his shot ended up crashing into the legs of Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol, one of the breakout players of this Qatar 2022 World Cup.

In the second half, the “Canarinha” began to generate more danger in the Croatian area and the Croatian goalkeeper, Dominik Livaković, made a litany of saves.

Three minutes into the second half, Livaković did his best to keep out the first Brazilian goal after a near mistake from one of the Croatian defenders. Sixty seconds later, the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper once again denied Vinicius Junior from putting his team ahead on the scoreboard.

Without a doubt, Livaković was the man of the match. Before the end of the 90 minutes, the Croatian goalkeeper managed to block several one-on-ones from Neymar and Lucas Paqueta to keep his team alive. Anthony had the last unsuccessful chance of the second half and regulation time ended in a 0-0 draw.

Extra time, penalties, AND CROATIA TO THE SEMIFINALS!

Extra time was a completely different match from the first 90 minutes. Both teams added extra intensity and had more chances. Livaković continued to keep the Brazilians desperate with his saves until Neymar (1-0) showed his fundamentals and put the Canarinha ahead on the scoreboard. With this goal, Neymar equaled Pelé as the top scorer in the history of the Brazilian national team.

For the Croatians, the game was not going to end there. After the extra time break, they knew how difficult it would be to find a goal that would give them the equalizer and allow them to duel with Brazil in the penalty shootout. They took control of the ball and attacked their opponents insistently, until Bruno Petković (1-1) scored the equalizer and unleashed madness among their crowd. With the score level, the referee signaled the end of extra time.

In the penalty shootout, Livaković was again the hero for Croatia, saving the first Brazilian penalty taken by Rodrygo. Croatia missed none of the four penalties it took and Marquinhos missed the last one, giving the Europeans a place in the semifinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.