Croatia face five-time World Cup winners Brazil before the Netherlands-Argentina clash in Qatar on December 9.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup quarter-final is here.
Two games expected to settle the dispute are scheduled for Friday.
- Croatia vs Brazil (Education City Stadium, 6pm/15:00 GMT)
- Netherlands vs Argentina (Lusail Stadium, 10pm/19:00 GMT)
Croatia vs Brazil
Croatia are set to host a “dangerous” Brazil side that is eyeing a sixth World Cup after beating South Korea 4-1 in the round of 16.
“Brazil is the favorite, let’s face it,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic told reporters in Doha on Tuesday. “Brazil is the strongest and best team in the World Cup.”
Brazil’s Neymar, who was sidelined for a while after picking up an arm injury against Serbia, looked impressive on his return to South Korea, scoring his 76th goal. The Paris Saint-Germain forward is now one goal short of equaling Pele’s 77 goals as Brazil’s all-time top scorer. Neymar, 30, even managed to beat Pele on Friday, as the team faces the legendary footballer, 82, who was hospitalized last week with a respiratory infection amid his battle with colon cancer.
Everything you see your favorite player doing, Pelé did it first.
King of football 🤴🏿pic.twitter.com/RqJPc4EJby
— ⋆Neymoleque 𝗾que 🇧🇷 (@Neymoleque) December 3, 2022
Croatia, who stunned Japan 3-1 on penalties in their first elimination game after a 1-1 draw – their third lead of the tournament, apart from beating Canada 4-1 – will go into Friday’s game with a low profile, despite finishing last. at the 2018 World Cup.
FIFA fined Croatia 50,000 Swiss francs ($53,000) on Wednesday for verbal abuse by the Adriatic nation’s fans against Canada’s Milan Borjan during a match between the two teams.
Netherlands vs Argentina
The Netherlands, led by the competition’s longest-serving coach, the orange-tie-wearing Louis van Gaal, 71, joins Lionel Messi and company on a 19-game winning streak on Friday, a week after knocking out the USA in the round of 16.
Dutch star Cody Gakpo, who has destroyed his opponents with three goals at the 2022 World Cup, trails France’s Kylian Mbappe by two goals in the Golden Boot event.
Messi, who he scored His first goal in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia, which was his ninth in 23 World Cup games, is expected to join La Albiceleste legend Gabriel Batistuta as the team’s top scorer in Friday’s game. It’s not do or die for Argentina – but Messi, too. The football star, who has yet to win the Coupe du Monde, is playing in the fifth and final World Cup.
The Netherlands have lost just once in their last nine matches against Argentina – the 1978 World Cup final in Buenos Aires. He was beaten twice in a shootout by Argentina, however, the most recent of which came in the 2014 semi final which saw Argentina win on penalties.
