It’s never easy to go far into the FIFA World Cup draw without being a powerhouse. Certainly, Croatia can’t be included in that list of being candidates to the title every time despite having great, talented players throughout their history in soccer. But they arrive to Qatar 2022 with much more respect from their opponents thanks to what they did four years ago.
The Croatian team get to the upcoming FIFA World Cup as last edition’s runner-up. In Russia 2018 they became the story of the tournament going further than anyone could have expected. They had a third place in France 1998, but they were able to top that. Firstly, they won their group with a perfect score even though Argentina was in it. Then, the list of heroic performances began.
They eliminated Denmark in a penalty shootout on round of 16. Penalties again was the way to take down the hosts before beating England on overtime to reach the final. Ultimately, having played so much more time than France costed them in a 4-2 defeat. In Qatar 2022 the group doesn’t sound easy either since they will compete against Belgium, Morocco, and Canada.
Croatia’s road to Qatar 2022
The UEFA qualifiers for this FIFA World Cup had 55 participants trying to get their ticket. There were five groups of five teams and five others with six countries each. Every group leader was set to advance to Qatar 2022 directly, while the second-place sides went to the playoffs. Croatia’s journey seemed simple since the beginning, but their path was way more stressful than it should have been.
Group H was their location along with five other rivals. Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, and Malta were the squads they had to play against twice to get their spot. In theory, they should have made it without issues. Although that was far from what it actually happened. The Croatian team had seven wins, two ties, and only one loss in their 10 games. Their biggest challenge was Russia.
So much so that everything was going to be settled on Matchday 10 between these two, with the Russians even having a two-point lead. A draw or a loss would have sent Croatia to the playoffs, and they were destined to do so based on how the match was going. Although with less than 10 minutes to go an own goal from Russia gave the Croatians a 1-0 triumph that confirmed their right to be in Qatar 2022.
Using this World Cup Predictor, you can see every potential outcome of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
