Croatia advanced to the round of 16 after a 0-0 tie and will face the winner of Group E in the next round of the FIFA World Cup.
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Croatia advanced to the World Cup round of 16 at the expense of Belgium after playing out a goalless draw. On Matchday 3 of the FIFA World Cup, Croatia and Belgium faced off in Group F at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan. Croatia began with Livakovix in goal, and Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, and Sosa formed the defensive system. Modric, Brozovic, and Kovacic made up Zlatko Dalic’s three-man midfield. Kramaric, Livaja, and Perisic were their starting front three. Croatia enters the game after a 1-1 tie with Morocco and a 4-1 win over Canada and will be looking to finish the Group stage on a high note.
Meanwhile, Roberto Martinez’s men entered the game following a humiliating 0-2 loss to Morocco, switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Courtois in goal. Back three: Castagne, Vertonghan, and Toby Alderweireld. Carrasco, Witsel, Dendoncker, and Meunier were the midfielders, with Trossard and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne playing behind Mertans. The Golden Generation has been inconsistent in their last five games, winning two and losing three, and will be looking for all three points against Croatia.
Croatia started the game brightly, almost scoring after 10 seconds when Modric floats a ball forward to Perisic, who took a touch inside the box past Meunier before blasting a shot wide. Belgium then broke the Croatian defensive line on the right as Carrasco cut inside, only for Brozovic to defend. Gvardiol of Croatia then drove past the Belgium box and found Kovacic in space. He curled it, which Courtois stretched over the bar.
Belgium then gained a lot of momentum, thanks to De Bruyne’s perspicacious pass to Carrasco, who found the winger in stride. He fired a low, hard shot at goal, but it was blocked. Lukaku was having a nightmare game after missing nearly five chances, and things only got worse when Thorgan Hazard chipped a cross into the middle that Lovren failed to clear. Lukaku didn’t see the mistake coming and chested it, only for the forward to tickle it to the Croatian keeper. Croatia advanced to the round of 16 after a 0-0 tie and will face the winner of Group E in the next round.
❗Crazy how Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ was essentially just the ‘Prime Eden Hazard Era’! 🥲🇧🇪❤️ pic.twitter.com/Yo0VILQpLS
— E. Hazard Tweets (@EHazardTweets) November 28, 2022
Roberto Martinez as Belgium manager.. what were they thinking and why did it last so long? They’ve wasted so many years with such a terrible manager.
— Jake! (@JakeAGriff) December 1, 2022
Oh Belgium! What have you done. It’s such a shame that world class club players can’t play well together for their country. Belgian players should be ashamed, some of the best players in the world currently are in that squad. #FIFAWorldCup
— Jainam Mehta (@Jainam09) December 1, 2022
Roberto Martinez should have left Belgium after the last tournament already. Star players were still there just needed a ruthless man coz that guy was too nice and philosophical
— Mpirie🤙🏽 (@Tshawe_elihle) December 1, 2022
So every World Cup over the past 12 years Belgium goes in ranked very highly and fails. When are the world rankings going to take their terrible performances into account. #FIFAWorldCuponFOX
— Shawn Aarhus (@Comicdadmv) December 1, 2022
