Croatia vs Brazil confirmed starting lineups for the quarter-final game

Between them they’ve notched up 12 goals over the opening eight games, but most of them came across just two big wins, and now they meet for a place in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The samba boys may come into this as favourites but the experienced heads of the European nation will have plans on how to overcome the odds.

Croatia vs Brazil: what they’re saying

Croatia

“Brazil were favourites before the tournament. They have two teams that can play at this level,” Croatia’s Dejan Lovren said ahead of the clash. “Any of their substitutes can come on and make an instant impact. We respect everybody and that is how we work.

“How we can stop them?,” he continued. “It is simple. Our goal is to try and stop the whole team. It will be a very difficult fight.”

“We showed that we are in great physical shape,” Mateo Kovacic added. “We worked a lot during these World Cup games. The Japanese team were very disciplined and it was difficult to break them down. But we showed a lot of physical fitness and I believe we can play even better.”

Brazil

“I try to adapt to the characteristics of the players,” Brazil manager Tite said. “They are very young and I try to adapt a bit to their language, and part of their language is dancing.”

“I always try to evolve, not only here, but at the club where I have more time to work,” Vinicius explained. “[Real Madrid coach Carlo] Ancelotti helps me a lot and he sometimes works together with Tite, they communicate and are very similar in the way they talk and relate to the players. In football, even more so at the top level, you don’t have time to complain, you have to evolve, learn.”

Croatia vs Brazil: team news

Josip Juranovic will continue at right back instead of the injured Josip Stanisic in the Croatia set-up, while Borna Barisic will lose his place in the starting XI because Borna Sosa is feeling sufficiently better after missing the game against Japan due to a virus. The rest of the team seems to be fairly obvious although and has been confirmed below.

For the Selecao, left-back Alex Sandro will not start, as he continues to recover from a hip injury. Danilo will take his place once again, as he has done in the previous two matches. Neymar’s ankle is holding up, so he will join Vini Jr and Raphinha in an exciting support trio behind top scorer Richarlison.

Croatia vs Brazil: confirmed line-ups

Croatia confirmed XI

Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Kovacic, Brozovic, Modric; Kramaric, Pasalic, Perisic

Brazil confirmed XI

Alisson; Militao, Silva, Marquinhos, Danilo; Casemiro, Paqueta; Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius Jr; Richarlison

As you would expect, we will be bringing you all the build-up, action and reaction as it happens here on AS USA.