Brazil fail to go past quarte-final once again, beaten by Croatia in the penalty shootout

Croatia beat Brazil by 4-2 in the penalty shootout and qualify for the semi-finals. Luca Modric's team did it perfectly in Qatar's Education City Stadium after stopping Brazil for 120 minutes of play with a 1-1 draw. The rest was done by the Croat goalkeeper Livakovic, who has pefromed tremendously to shatter Brazil's dream for hexa. 

Earlier, the first half ended goalless with both teams playing cautiously in front of their goal bars. Midfield tussle between the teams has been one of the bests in this World Cup as Brazil’s Casemiro and Paqueta looked clueless in front of Croat talisman Luca Modric. 

Few chances here and there couldn’t question either of the goalkeepers; Croatian goalkeeper Livaković made a few easy saves though as shots from Vinicius and Neymar didn’t turn into any real threat. 

Croatia have played their trademark gameplay - slow and defensively compact. However, Brazilians found it hard to pass through the Croat midfield of Brozovic, Modric and Kovacic, with the 37-year-old Real Madrid midfielder dictating the game’s pace masterfully. 

The second half started in an explosive manner as Brazil’s attackers ran into the Croat d-box more frequently with a few shots reaching Livaković’s hands dangerously. 

Brazil increased their attacking frequency in the second half significantly with Rodrygo coming on for Vinicius, however, Neymar’s team couldn’t break the Croat compact defence. Brazil’s short-passing strategy proved futile each time they entered the opposition d-box with the ball and lost it in the crowd. 

As Brazil’s long ball and build-up, both failed, Brazilian coach Tite tried his luck subbing on Pedro in the place of Richarlison, who is playing for the 5 times world champions for only the 2nd time in his career. 

Nevertheless, Brazil failed to produce anything from their 14 attempts, 8 on target, while Croatia expectedly created less chances, half of that of Brazil with only 3 shots on target. 

Additional 30 minutes

Additional 30 minutes of play started with a Brazil corner. The Latin giants increased their attacking frequency as they wouldn’t want a tie-breaker against a side that is very good at this business. 

This increased intensity paid off in the 106th minute, just before the end of the first half of an additional 30 minutes as Neymar did exactly what Brazil needed - a moment of magic!

From Paqueta’s pass, the Brazilian talisman dodged the Croatian goalkeeper with a clever movement of body and put the ball in the net with a clinical touch. 

But Croatia weren’t ready to let things go yet as Modric’s team came back strongly in the second half of the extra-time. Petković equalised for Croatia in the 117th minute to take the game into the tie-breaker. 

Tie-breaker

Croatia became the favourite team on field as soon as the game reached to tie-breaker. They have always been favourite for such situations with apt penalty takers and a goalkeeper who has been stopping literally anything and everything. 

As Brazil surprisingly started their shootout with Rodrygo, the young Real Madrid forward who got defeated by nerves and failed to beat Livakovic, Brazil were already down under. 

After that, it was Croatia all the way as the Croats scored 4 successive penalties while Brazil defender Marquinhos missed his team's 4th shot, confirming their exit from the World Cup.

This is the 4th time Brazil got knocked out from the quarter-final of a World Cup in their last 5 campaigns after lifting the title in 2002. On the other hand, for Croatia, it's a chance to play consecutive World Cup finals, only second time in their history.

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