Another underdog team stunned the giants and this time it was Croatia in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2022, who stunned Brazil on Friday (December 9). The five-time champions were handed elimination in the Qatar World Cup after the penalty shootout score was 4-2. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who was probably the hero of Croatia in the game saved a penalty attempt by Rodrygo and later on Marquinhos hit the post.



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It all looked in Brazil's control after Neymar had scored late in the first half of extra time to give Brazil the lead, but Croatia equalized when Bruno Petkovic scored in the 117th. Neymar's goal moved him into a tie with Pele as Brazil's all-time leading scorer with 77 goals.


Croatia will next face either Argentina or the Netherlands to try to return to the World Cup final four years after losing the title to France. Five of Croatia's last six matches at World Cups have gone to extra time, including in its penalty shootout win over Japan in the round of 16 in Qatar. The team has been successful in eight of its last 10 knockout matches at the tournament.



Brazil was trying to return to the semifinals for the first time since 2014. The team hadn't made it to the last four since hosting the tournament eight years ago, when the Selecao was embarrassed by Germany 7-1. Brazil was trying to defeat a European opponent in the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time since the 2002 final against Germany, when the team won for the last time. (With PTI inputs)