Brazil and Croatia squared off against each other in the first quarterfinal fixture of the FIFA World Cup 2022 as the latter stunned the five-time World Cup winners in the penalties. While Croatia won their third consecutive penalty shootout in the World Cups, Brazil faced their second successive defeat in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Star forward Neymar Jr. broke the deadlock to score the opener for Brazil in the finishing moment of the first half of the extra time, however, Bruno Petkovic scored the equaliser in the 117th minute into the game to force the game into penalties.
In the penalty shootout, Croatia took the first kick as Nikola Vlasic scored the first penalty while Brazil and Real Madrid forward Rodrygo missed from the spot as pressure got the better of the Brazilian squad. Croatia went on to score all four penalties while Marquinhos missed the fourth penalty kick for Brazil as Luka Modric's side knocked out World Cup favourites Brazil.
With the win against Brazil, Croatia will face the winner from the quarterfinal fixture between Argentina and Netherlands. On the other hand, Portugal will face the likes of Morocco and England are set to square off against France in the FIFA World Cup 2022 quarterfinals.
