THE opening World Cup 2022 quarter-final takes place at the Education City Stadium on Friday afternoon, as Croatia do battle with Brazil.
After successfully navigating their way through Group F, Croatia progressed into the last-eight after winning a penalty shootout over Japan last time out following a keenly-contested 1-1 draw in normal time.
While the Chequered Ones can count themselves lucky to have reached this stage, their fans will still be daring to dream of reaching back-to-back World Cup finals.
Standing in their way though is a Brazil side who danced their way into the quarter-final stage with a dazzling 4-1 display against South Korea on Monday night.
Tite's team trounced the Taegeuk Warriors with a four-goal first-half blitz, with the Selecao fully justifying my faith in them to overcome a -1.5 hurdle on the Asian Handicap.
That performance reaffirmed Brazil's place as World Cup favourites and they will now set out to seal their passage to the semi-final stage with a victory over Croatia on Friday.
Outright Betting
Croatia, who have failed to topple Brazil in each of the four previous meetings between the nations, head into this showdown as 36/5 (Highbet) outsiders while the draw inside 90 minutes can be backed at 73/20 (Highbet).
Brazil have won 10- of their last 11 matches and the bookmakers' expect them to make no mistake here, with the South American superpower short-priced 17/50 (Highbet) favourites.
Betting Angles
Brazil are too short to back at the above-mentioned-odds so I'll head to the Bet Builder market and merge Brazil to win, under five match goals and over zero Croatia cards at 4/5 with Bet 365.
While Brazil swept aside South Korea with room to spare last time out, I suspect they may find it a bit more difficult to break down their Balkan opponents here, as was the case against Serbia and Switzerland during the group stage.
In fact, a sizeable 18 of Brazil's last 20 victories in competitive contests have generated four strikes or fewer, so it could well be another case of the Selecao securing another solid if unspectacular win here against what is a streetwise Croatian side.
Zlatko Dalić's side have demonstrated a solid pedigree over a sustained period of time on the international stage, and they will be hoping they can summon the spirit of 2018 with a view to advancing to the semi-final stage.
Although the Chequered Ones should be capable of keeping this clash competitive, I suspect they will ultimately come up short in a game featuring under five goals, and with Brazil expected to dictate the tempo of the game, I'll conclude the Bet Builder with a minimum of one Croatia card.
Tite's star-studded side have drawn at least one caution from each of their last 36 opponents across all competitions, and I fancy that remarkable trend to continue here against a Croatia team that clocked up a couple of cards against Japan last time out.
Given that Vinícius Júnior has come of age for his country in Qatar, I'll also back the Samba superstar To Score Or Assist at 10/11 with PaddyPower.
The brilliant Brazilian has either grabbed a goal or played the role of provider in two of his three starts at this year's tournament, so the 10/11 (PaddyPower) about him to repeat the trick here looks like a tempting betting proposition.
This World Cup match between Croatia and Brazil will be played on Dec 9, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Croatia vs Brazil prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
In December 2020 we sadly 
with Bet 365,s enhanced 25 per cent bonus it takes the odds to around the 21/20 mark if it lands..