Brazil and Croatia reach the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup

Dominik Livakovic (YouTube)

We know 75% of the teams in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Joining France, England, Argentina and the Netherlands, are Croatia and Brazil. On Monday, Croatia beat Japan 3-1 on penalties after playing 120 minutes of football deadlocked at one goal apiece.

The Croatian regulation goal was scored by winger Ivan Perisic of Tottenham Hotspur, who tied the game at one goal apiece in the 55th minute. The real hero of the game was Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who made three highlight reel saves on penalty kicks.

Then less than ninety minutes later, Brazil steamrolled past South Korea 4-1. The Brazilian scorers were Vini Jr of Real Madrid in the seventh minute, Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain in the 13th minute on a penalty, Richarlison of Tottenham Hotspur in the 29th minute and Lucas Paqueta of West Ham United in the 36th minute. This was the first time since 1954 that Brazil scored four goals in the first half of a World Cup game. That year Brazil scored four first half goals in a 5-0 win over Mexico in Group 1 play.

This is the third time in the history of the World Cup that Croatia will have played Brazil. In 2006 in Berlin, Germany, Croatia played their first game of the tournament against Brazil and lost 1-0 on a goal by Kaka in the 44th minute. Then in 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Croatia was once again placed in the same group of Brazil, and lost their Group A match by a score of 3-1. Neymar was the Brazilian star on this day, as he scored two goals.