The world saw a major upset on the 9th of December 2022 when Croatia faced Brazil in the quarterfinal stage of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil, who were claimed to be favourites to win the World Cup this year, faced Croatia, who were said to be the underdogs throughout the entire game.
The Brazilian side had many chances to open the scoring during the first 90 minutes, but Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic denied the Brazilian team each and every time they tried to score during the first 90 minutes. However, it seemed that Brazil would advance to the semi-finals as their magician Neymar Jr scored a beautiful goal in the 105th minute during the first half of extra time.
However, the tables turned in the second half as Croatian substitute Bruno Petkovic scored for Croatia in the 117th minute to level the score and drop the Brazilian spirits. From there on, it was all downhill for Brazil. They lost the penalty shootout (4-2) to Croatia after the Brazilian goalkeeper Allison Becker failed to save every shot and Marquinhos hit the post during his penalty, sending Croatia to the Semi-Finals of the World Cup and sending Neymar out of what could possibly have been his last World Cup.
The late-night game took place between Netherlands and Argentina. Both teams looked equally balanced entering the game and for some time it seemed that way.
However, the deadlock was broken by N.Molina assisted by his Captain Lionel Messi in the 35th minute. Later on, it seemed Argentina had secured their Position in the Semifinals when a second goal was scored by Lionel Messi via Penalty in the 73rd minute. It seemed that Argentina would be marching into the semi-final easily, however, there was drama in the game with Netherlands player Wout Weghorst scoring a goal in the 83rd minute to make the scoreline 2-1.
There was even more late drama in the game as Weghorst scored again in the 11th minute of Injury time (90+11) to make it 2-2 to take the game into Extra time and then into Penalties. Later on, Argentina beat the Netherlands (4-3) to advance to the Semifinals. There was a lot of drama in the game as there were a total of 16 Yellow Cards and 1 red card throughout the game. Such was the intensity and tension between the Players in the game.
Argentina and Croatia will now face each other in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on the 14th of December at 12:30 a.m. (IST).
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