The Croatia World Cup story will continue beyond the group stages, after the Vatreni’s 2-1 victory over Ghana on Saturday, and it was by far the best showing from Zlatko Dalić’s side in North America so far.
However, by having finished second in their group, Croatia inadvertently find themselves in a much more difficult part of the World Cup tournament brackets than they would have had they drawn against Ghana and finished third.
The Croatia World Cup Path: The Seemingly Impossible Opponents The Vatreni Must Beat To Challenge For World Cup Glory
Croatia are the only team besides France to hold the distinct honour of having medaled in both of the last two World Cups.
However, with such success comes a raise in expectations, with many people hoping for another return to the podium this year, after the Croatia World Cup run of years gone by.
With that being said, unlike in 2018 and 2022, the team’s pathway for such a deep run looks impossible.
They face Portugal in the Round of 32, which on its own seems like an insurmountable task, given the great quality of Roberto Martinez’s side.
The only thing that might be a reason for some optimism is the fact that Portugal haven’t been particularly good so far in this tournament either.
Even if the Vatreni were somehow able to pull off the upset against Portugal, the other giants from the Iberian Peninsula would likely be waiting in the wings in the Round of 16, as Croatia would have to face the winner of the Spain vs Austria encounter.
Croatia World Cup: Potentially Facing Two ‘Bogey’ Teams
The Spanish, like the Portuguese, have been an absolute bogey team for Croatia, over the decades since the existence of the Croatian national team.
In 10 total international matches, Croatia have only managed to beat Portugal once, which came in a friendly fixture in 2024.
The Vatreni’s history against Spain is not that much better, with only three wins from their 11 encounters.
Due to the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams this year, it has made it more likely for top sides to meet early in the knockout stages.
So, the Croatia World Cup dream is likely dependent on the side beating two absolute giants of the game, just to get to the quarter-finals. Granted, Spain hasn’t beaten Austria just yet, but they are more than likely to do so.
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Croatia World Cup: Can The World Cup Dream Stay Alive?
Sure, Croatia have proven themselves in the World Cup tournament football under Dalić, as the Croatian head coach and his staff tend to bring out the best in the players during these knockout matches.
They have often done so at the expense of the kind of positive, attacking style that this group should be playing, but that matters little when they have been able to get wins on the board and reach the latter stages of major tournaments.
Even so, victories against major football nations have been few and far between under Dalić as well. However, when the pressure was on, Croatia have delivered, such as the semi-final against England in 2018, or the quarter-final against Brazil in 2022.
That means that the Croatia World Cup story could well continue into the Round of 16 and perhaps beyond, but at this moment in time, it just seems a little far-fetched.
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