World Cup 2022: Can Les Rouges Make History?

Croatia vs Canada

The Khalifa International Stadium will be a sea of red and white on Sunday when World Cup 2022: Croatia vs Canada is the Group F Round Two action on offer.

Both teams will be going for a win after a slow start to their campaigns and we can expect an all action contest now that the tournament is underway. The opening match of any major finals tournament can often be a cagey affair: Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia played out an uneventful 0-0 draw with Morocco while John Herdman should be proud of his Canada side despite their 1-0 loss to Belgium in their opening fixture.

Les Rouges came agonizingly close to making their own piece of history on Wednesday night. It is only their second appearance at the World Cup finals and, in Mexico 1986 they failed to score a goal or earn a single point. But against a highly rated Belgium side, Herdman’s exciting young team dominated for long periods stretched the Red Devils, and were very unlucky to emerge empty-handed.

The Red Devils take on Morocco on Sunday and they certainly need to improve, while Canada aim to turn fine play into results…but they come up against a formidable opponent in Croatia.

Talking Points

Croatia’s middle man can make the chances

The 2018 World Cup finalists may be past their best but you won’t find many neutrals arguing that their midfield three isn’t among the strongest in the world. Few teams can say they boast a formidable threesome like Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic who have 319 caps between them.

While Brozovic and Kovacic are both highly effective all-rounders, able to break up play and launch attacks, each very comfortable in possession and excellent passers of the ball, it is the evergreen Modric who still has that magic in his boots as one of the finest creative players on the planet.

Dalic will expect his midfield to dominate against Canada but he will be looking for more action at the business end of the pitch. Against Morocco his team managed just two shots on goal; Nicola Vlasic was denied by a fine stop from Morocco keeper Bono while Modric fired a shot narrowly over the bar and winger Ivan Perisic saw his shot charged down.

Croatia are expected to name an unchanged side on Sunday with Josko Gvardial marshalling a defence which will come up against a lively Canada attack.

Canada just need to take their chances

The pre-match Croatia vs Canada betting odds reckon Les Rouges can get a result on Sunday with the Double Chance: Canada or Draw at odds of 1.64, and the most likely score-line is 1-1. So a point, or even a goal, is most certainly on the cards. Against Belgium, the FIFA Ranked second best team in the world, Canada totally dominated in terms of goalmouth action with 22 shots to nine and 2.61 Expected Goals (xG) to Belgium’s 0.76. So Herdman had a right to be happy with his boys, saying: “I’m proud of the performance, but you need to take three points in your first game. We had an opportunity tonight to go top of the group, that was the mission and we missed it.”

Alphonso Davies missed a penalty on ten minutes while the highly rated Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, and Tajon Buchanan all missed good chances. Les Rouges will be on the front foot again and will make plenty of opportunities with their fast and direct approach; they just need to stick the ball in the back of the net!

History

While the likes of Brazil who are aiming for a fifth world title and have started this campaign well, beating Serbia 2-0; Croatia and Canada have more modest ambitions, though equally important to their fans.

The Croats want one final push from their experienced team and maybe even to match the achievements of their 2018 finalists. Canada’s first aim is to score a goal, but Herdman believes his team can do much more than that.

Croatia are unbeaten in seven and were on a run of five consecutive victories before they drew with Morocco while Canada have won two, drawn one, and lost three of the last six games.

Betting Tip

Croatia are clear favorites to win this clash but not odds-on, with a SBOTOP price of 2.16 to take all three points. Canada have a real chance to win at odds of 3.45 and the draw is at 3.15.

Both teams struggled in front of goal in their opening games, but we’re hoping for plenty of goalmouth action in the Croatia vs Canada highlights and we expect Les Rouges to score their first goal at the World Cup finals.

 

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