World Cup 2022: Reasons for Brazil to be confident of beating Croatia

Tite's men produced a marvellous first-half display of attacking firepower to see off South Korea 4-1 in the last 16, as Vinicius Junior, Neymar, Richarlison and Lucas Paqueta struck before Paik Seung-ho's stunning consolation.

The Selecao will unsurprisingly enter Friday's contest as the favourites to advance to the semi-finals, where an all-South American tie with Argentina could await them if the Copa America winners can see off the Netherlands.

Here, Sports Mole picks out three reasons for Brazil to be confident of avoiding a shock defeat and sending Croatia home.

Head-to-head superiority

Having played competitive matches for just 28 years since gaining independence, Croatia have only taken on Brazil four times in international action, but the Checkered Ones have failed to win any of those encounters.

The inaugural meeting between Brazil and Croatia in a 2005 friendly ended in a 1-1 draw following goals from Ricardinho and Niko Kranjcar, but the Selecao have since picked up three successive wins over Croatia - two of which have come in the World Cup.

Indeed, Brazil's first game of the 2006 tournament ended in a 1-0 victory over the Checkered Ones thanks to a winner from Kaka, and they also opened the 2014 edition by beating Croatia 3-1, with Neymar (2) and Oscar finding the back of the net.

The fourth and most recent clash between Brazil and Croatia came at Anfield in a 2018 World Cup warm-up match, where Neymar and Roberto Firmino struck in a 2-0 win for Tite's side, whose head-to-head record will stand them in very good stead here.

Attacking prowess

Brazil may have been kept out by Cameroon in their final group fixture of the 2022 World Cup, but none of Tite's first-choice attackers started that game, and it even emerged that Gabriel Jesus had suffered a serious knee injury during the contest too.

However, the Selecao's main offensive stars send a stark warning to the other seven teams left in the tournament by scoring four against South Korea in only 36 minutes - a goal on average every nine minutes - and the slick passing on show for Richarlison's goal on the day was a sight for sore eyes.

That 1-0 loss to Cameroon marks the only time in their last 12 games that Brazil have failed to find the back of the net, during which time they have won 10, drawn one and lost one, and plenty of players have contributed to their attacking flair.

Richarlison has now struck 10 goals in nine matches for Brazil during the current calendar year, Neymar is the first Brazilian since 1966 to score and assist at three separate World Cups, while Raphinha - who is yet to directly contribute - has created a team-high eight chances and had eight shots on goal in Qatar.

Defensive excellence vs. attacking failures

Croatia may have found the back of the net four times against a hapless Canada side in the group stage, but the Checkered Ones have otherwise struggled to convince on the attacking front, being shut out in their clashes with Morocco and Belgium before netting just the once against Japan through Ivan Perisic's header.

None of Andrej Kramaric, Ante Budimir, Bruno Petkovic or Marko Livaja has been able to provide a consistent threat up front for the 2018 finalists, whose frailties in the final third could prove fatal against a well-drilled Brazil defence.

It took a long-range thunderbolt from Paik to breach the Selecao's backline in the last 16, while Vincent Aboubakar also ghosted in to head home for Cameroon, but those efforts represent two of just four strikes that Brazil have conceded in their last 11 matches.

Furthermore, not since a 4-2 qualifying win over Peru in October 2020 have Brazil conceded more than one goal in any game, going through their last 30 matches having conceded a goal or fewer - thanks in no small part to the ever-lasting connection between former Paris Saint-Germain teammates Thiago Silva and Marquinhos.

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