We are 56 games into the World Cup, and just eight are left to play as the tournament approaches its business end. An unmissable two days of quarter-final matches will be spread across Friday and Saturday.
Tournament favourites Brazil will have to make their way past a resilient Croatia team, before Argentina come up against a familiar foe when they face the Netherlands
Bet9ja continues to offer more than 160 markets on every single World Cup match. Read below all you need to know about the first two quarter-final matches, with odds, tips and analysis.
Croatia vs Brazil
Education City Stadium
Friday 9th December, 16:00
Brazil were in scintillating form in the last round, and standing in their way of a last four place are a Croatia team that have recent experience of reaching the latter stages.
While Croatia have only produced one dominant performance in the tournament so far when beating Canada 4-1 in the Group Stage, they have looked difficult to break down in most matches, conceding two goals in their four games so far. After finishing second in Group F with one win and two draws, they had to come back from behind against Japan in the Last 16 to draw 1-1 after extra time, before three saves in the penalty shootout from goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic helped them progress.
Zlatko Dalic’s team had 17 attempts at goal against Japan, but only four of those were on target, and in truth, they seemed to be content with hanging on for extra time and penalties, with the hope their experience would drag them through.
Edging tight encounters has been Croatia’s forte in World Cup knockout games of late. They won back-to-back penalty shootouts at the start of the knockout stage at the last World Cup in 2018 against Denmark and hosts Russia respectively, and beat England after extra time in the semi-final, before coming unstuck against France in the final. A surprising fact is that they haven’t won a knockout game in 90 minutes in World Cups and European Championships since 1998. Three draws from four games at this World Cup is another sign they do not tend to dominate games, but often find a way to progress.
They will be unlikely to change their approach against Brazil, who topped Group G and then thrashed South Korea 4-1 in the Last 16, with all four goals coming in the first half. They were unperturbed by their 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in their last group game, although that was not with their strongest team, and the rest time given to their key players seemed to make a difference.
The South Korea performance was up there with the best any team has produced in the tournament, with fast, intricate build-up play that was too sharp for the Koreans to have an answer for. Any worries about Neymar’s fitness ahead of that game were quashed too, as he got himself on the scoresheet.
Another goalscorer from that game is Richarlison, who has looked particularly impressive in this tournament, bagging three goals from as many starts, including a goal of the tournament contender in the opening game against Serbia.
The overall stats from the South Korea match can be slightly misleading, as the tie was effectively sealed by half-time, but Brazil’s 18 attempts at goal and nine on target showed how dangerous they can be, and this followed group wins over Serbia and Switzerland where they did not concede an attempt on target.
Croatia are likely to put up a better fight than South Korea on Friday, but if Brazil play anything close to the level they have been able to when their best players have been on the pitch, they will have too much quality for their opponents. Bet9ja is offering 4.30 on Brazil to win by two goals.
If you fancy Richarlison to continue his goalscoring form meanwhile, he is 5.90 to score first and 2.65 to score anytime.
Bet9ja odds (at time of writing): Croatia win: 9.30, Draw: 5.05, Brazil win: 1.38
Netherlands vs Argentina
Lusail Stadium
Friday 9th December, 20:00
Memories of some classic World Cup encounters come to mind as these two teams are set to battle for a place in the last four on Friday night.
This is a repeat of the 1978 final, where Argentina sealed their first World Cup trophy, a quarter-final in 1998 when Dennis Bergkamp scored one of the greatest goals seen at a World Cup, and a 2014 semi-final that ended in Argentina winning on penalties.
Fast forward to 2022, and while Argentina are favourites, this is not a Dutch team to be taken lightly. They comfortably finished first in Group A and after a slow start in their Last 16 match against USA, they gradually took control of the game and finished 3-1 winners.
Manager Louis van Gaal, who is in his third spell in charge and took his country to the semi-finals in 2014, is playing to the team’s strengths. The quality of their defenders, such as Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake and Denzel Dumfries, lay the foundations for a counter-attacking system to thrive. Dumfries has produced the goods at both ends of the pitch at this tournament, and secured two assists and a goal against USA. Meanwhile, forward Cody Gakpo has been making a name for himself, scoring in all three group games.
Netherlands may have had less possession, corners, attempts at goal and attempts on target than USA, but this is a team that can win without needing to dominate in those areas. They are unbeaten in 19 matches, and are yet to lose since van Gaal’s latest return as manager.
The narrative around Argentina has come around full circle during the World Cup. They were second favourites going into the tournament, but a shocking 1-2 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opening game cast doubt over whether they had enough killer instinct to turn possession into goals. Three straight wins since, including comfortable 2-0 wins against Mexico and Poland, has silenced some of the critics, but they were clinging on towards the end of their 2-1 victory against Australia in the Last 16.
Lionel Messi seems to be the subject of a majority of the headlines whenever Argentina play, and despite missing a penalty against Poland, he doesn’t seem to be feeling the pressure in an attempt to finally win a World Cup. Messi scored his third goal of the tournament against Australia; his first goal in a World Cup knockout game.
Key chances against Argentina have been hard to come by, as they have only conceded four attempts on target in the tournament so far; the issue is that three of those were scored. Netherlands’ counter-attacking plan will have to be sharp and they will have to be ruthless, especially as Argentina have not been giving up much of the ball. Their average share of possession has been 67% so far.
Argentina’s ability to dominate the ball, combined with the Netherlands’ defensive capabilities, means we expect this to be a low-scoring game. We could see Argentina edging the victory by a single goal, priced at 3.40 with Bet9ja.
Bet9ja odds (at time of writing): Netherlands win: 3.60, Draw: 3.15, Argentina win: 2.32
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