The Croatian national football team qualified for the round of 16 of the World Cup after defeating Ghana (2:1) in the last round of Group L, and there they are waiting for their old friend Portugal, against whom we have played 10 games so far and have a record of one win, two draws and seven losses.
Both teams finished second in their respective groups. The Flames lost to England 2:4, and then defeated Panama 1:0 and Ghana 2:1, thus winning a total of six points. The Portuguese first drew with DR Congo 1:1, then defeated the Uzbeks 5:0, and then played 0:0 with Colombia and finished the group stage with five points.
The match between Croatia and Portugal is scheduled for the night from Thursday to Friday (July 2 to 3) at 1:00 p.m., and will be played at BMO Field in Toronto, where the selected Zlatko Dalić defeated Panama.
The Croatian coach was self-critical after the victory and said that he too “made noise”, but then they returned to their old settings and played what they had been playing for years, and the Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz he was full of praise for our national team.
“We have to give credit to Croatia. When you score one more goal than the opponent, it means you won. They made fewer mistakes than us and that’s why they won. They were better, they had better control of the game and dominated,” Queiroz said, and then praised Luka Modrić:
“Luka played a great game, he was the master of the game. We tried to control him throughout the match.”
Tough draw for Croatia
Before the game itself, there were speculations that Ghana could let the game to Croatia, and the reason given was the fact that one of their key players To Thomas Partey banned from entering Canada due to allegations of seven rapes and one sexual assault in England, dating back to when he played for London’s Arsenal.
Partey could not play the first round match against Panama (1:0) because he was not granted a visa, if Ghana had finished second ahead of Croatia, they would have played their round of 16 match in Toronto. This is how they will play against Colombia at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Also, it was known that the draw would be significantly more difficult for the second-placed team of group L, compared to the third-placed team. Thus, if Portugal passes, Croatia will face the winner of the match between Spain and Austria in the round of 16. That game would be played in Arlington, Texas, at the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys (where we also played against the English in the opening game), on Monday, July 6 at 9:00 p.m. Croatian time.
In case of victory over Colombia, Ghana will play against the better of Switzerland and Algeria in the next phase. The difference, at least in theory, is big. If it manages to reach the quarterfinals, Queiroz’s team will most likely play against Argentina, which must first get past Cape Verde, and then the better of the match between Australia and Egypt.
Possible duel with Bosnia and Herzegovina
If Croatia enters the top eight in the tournament, they can in theory meet Bosnia and Herzegovina there. The chosen ones Sergej Barbarez in the round of 16, they play against the host USA, and in case of passing, they will go one better from the meeting between Belgium and Senegal. The Americans are justifiably known as the favorites against our neighbors, but the passage of Bosnia and Herzegovina would by no means be a miracle. Barbarez has quality players in his team, while the USA, despite the increase in the quality of players and the popularity of football in the country, is still nowhere near the top of the world.
If the Vatreni reached the semi-finals, one of the national teams from the part of the draw in which France, Germany, the Netherlands and Morocco stand out would be waiting for them there. If the Germans pass Paraguay and the French pass Sweden, these two great soccer nations will play each other already in the round of 16, while the winner of the uncertain match between the Netherlands and Morocco will go on to win the match between South Africa and Canada.
The rest of the draw also brings a handful of interesting and uncertain matches.
The Brazilians are playing against Japan, who are once again impressing with their performances, and the winner of that match will go one better than Haaland’s Norway and the Ivory Coast. The English are playing against the embarrassing DR Congo, who drew a point against Portugal, narrowly lost to Colombia, and then showed character with a turnaround against Uzbekistan. The winner of that match goes on to win the match between home Mexico and Ecuador.
Although this is less important, let’s emphasize that Croatia has so far earned about 13 million euros by placing in the knockout phase, and in the event of a victory over Portugal, HNS will have an additional 1.75 million. The total prize fund at the championship, by the way, amounts to a record 765 million euros so far.
