The 2022 World Cup draw is less than 36 hours away and we will soon know what Croatia’s path back to the World Cup Final will look like. The draw will take place this Friday, April 1st, at Noon (ET).
The Vatreni picked up the last Pot 2 berth available with their current FIFA ranking of #15 in the world. Croatia will not be able to play anyone in group stage from Pot 2 which means they will avoid the likes of Germany, Denmark, Uruguay, Netherlands etc until the knockout rounds.
No two countries from the same continent can be placed in the same group with each other. The exception to that rule is a maximum of two European nations will be able to play each other in group stage.
Germany will surely be highlighting the ‘Group of Death’ for a second straight tournament; unless they are drawn with hosts, Qatar, out of Pot 1. Three berths are still to be determined in June. The following winners will all be placed in Pot 4. 1) Peru vs. the winner of UAE/Australia Asian playoff 2) New Zealand vs. Costa Rica 3) Wales vs. the winner of Ukraine/Scotland European playoff
Toughest Group For Croatia: Brazil, Senegal, Ukraine
Easiest Group For Croatia: Qatar, Tunisia, New Zealand
Group CroatianSports Is Personally Rooting For: Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Canada
That’s right! Give us Brazil, who Croatia have yet to defeat. (Add France and Portugal to that list as well). Give us Serbia on the world stage. That would make us so happy to mop them up at a World Cup. And Canada. Why not? We were rooting for a Croatia/USA matchup to end the Perišić vs. Pulisic debate once and for all. But since we can’t be drawn with the United States, let’s go with Canada. They’re basically the same team anyways, ay?
Name your toughest and easiest group stage paths for Croatia. Then name the group you are rooting for. 🙂
LOL..us Canadian Croats will at least gets lots of coverage on TSN/Sportsnet and other Canadian cable companies due to our group haha. I don’t mind the group and think it’s very do able for us especially getting a past your prime Belgium
France (most likely Peru-inter continental playoff) Denmark were 3 out of 4 teams in group 2018. France got lucky vs Peru then and Denmark was tough 0-0 draw- interesting to see…who will be put last team in pot 4 !? Come on Canada lol
It’s getting going decki
Maybe a huge moment the start of another monumental run!
There is no reason we can’t beat any of the teams currently in the world
Let’s hope the group is challenging enough but kind enough
Mi hravti!
anyone have a link to the draw?
* if Dalic brings 🇭🇷 to the semi or finals again … *
He’s gone right!?
Top Clubs are after him again right!?
I just want this draw to happen then talk about how we will win!! Let’s Go Croatia 🇭🇷 🔥💪 Enjoy the draw everyone 👍
Dont want france because we play them 2 times this year league of nations dont want england. Third pot tunisia morroco or iran fourth pot peru new zealand canada i know canada no push over. So if i had to choose Qatar croatia poland Australia or new zeland
Bring on England- love playing those chumps
Even though they beat us in the Euros, you know that they would get PTSD if they were drawn against us again lol
absolutely- we should have lost that game if Kane wasn’t so cocky and just stuck that short chip in the net- that game changed right after that-
For me the path in second round is also interseting who we link up with. I dont care who we get the goal should be quarterfinals to me would be successful anthing after that is bonus
Im kind of sick of seeing France, England, and Spain so give me any of the other 5. The key to advancing is who we get from pots 3 and 4. For those in the States, there will be 4 group games on Thanksgiving day! Interesting to see who plays those. 4 World Cup games and 3 NFL games on a Thursday….The whole timing of this tournament is definitely strange.
Going to go against the grain here with a lot of the comments, as someone who lives in S.America and has watched a lot of Ecuador in the past year. I would take playing Ecuador anyday and actually think they’re one of the weaker teams in Pot 4 – based off the fact that they are an altitude based team which picked up the vast majority of their points at home at altitude, and played ugly, scrappy football away from home.
Think Peru is a much more dangerous team than Ecuador. And I actually think Canada is the most dangerous team out of Pot 4 – unless potentially Ukraine qualifies. If not, I’ll take a rematch with Wales or Scotland all day.
Canada & Senegal/Poland strongest teams in Pot 3 and Pot 4 in my opinion.
For me, the toughest draw available:
France, HRV, Senegal, Canada
Weakest draw – gotta agree with Ante:
Qatar, Tunisia, Costa Rica
What I do want to see? I’d like to avoid repeat matches from past recent Euros / WCs (aside from Argentina – as I’d love to see that again):
Belgium – I think they are past their prime and in a tough group could easily end up knocked out in the group stage
Morocco – middle of the pack, never played them, think they are flying a bit under the radar and would be a good matchup
Ecuador or Peru/Australia – see point from above + chance for revenge from 2002 or 2006.
Not the sexiest group, but one that Croatia should be successful in.
We played Morocco in late 1996 and drew 2 – 2 in Morocco and lost on penalties. It was 4 team tournament.
Sorry memory fading we actually won 7 – 6 on penalties.
Qatar
Croatia
South Korea
Wales
Can’t happen. Qatar and S. Korea both from Asia. Thanks for playing 🙂
Dont be so cocky about playing Canada…very dangerous counter atracking team.
This made me laugh. Thanks Delko. 🙂
I would not underestimate Canada- topped their group ahead of Mexico and USA without their best player (Alfonso Davies) for 6 of the 10 qualifying matches.
I don’t expect them to go far; however, they could be a party spoiler by winning a key match, and they may actually advance from the group stage- depending upon the group of course?
Side note:
We’ll find out tomorrow if we get to wear our checkers 🟥⬜️
⬜️🟥
Or our black blue kits
⬛️🟦⬛️
🟦⬛️🟦
Best:
Qatar 🇶🇦
Croatia 🇭🇷
Tunisia 🇹🇳
Costa Rica 🇨🇷
Worst:
France 🇫🇷
Croatia 🇭🇷
Senegal 🇸🇳
Ecuador 🇪🇨
Yep. Whoever draws Senegal will certainly be the ‘Group of Death’. At the same time, they don’t score alot of goals and needed PK shootout wins vs. Egypt to win AFCON and qualify. Are they really the best team in Africa. I think some of these draws were a bit unfair with the seedings.
Curious to know your opinion on Ecuador 🇪🇨 vs Peru 🇵🇪
Who does 🇭🇷 match up better with of the two?
…and the Senegal fans were allowed to point hundreds of lasers at Salah and the Egyptian NT during the penalties.
There’s no way that it didn’t affect them. Their entire faces were lit up in green ha ha.
Portugal
Hrvatska
Japan
Australia
Swap Portugal with Brazil and we can redo WC2006
We’ve never beaten France, Portugal or Brazil in a competitive match. I’d like Croatia have a crack of any those three times. Brazil & Argentina have look quite impressive. They’re the only two from South America that possess the quality to go far. Pot 3 contains a lot of talent. Serbia was able to get a draw and win against Portugal. Poland had a draw against England. Senegal defeated Poland last World Cup and are African champions. Morocco & Iran preformed well last World Cup and gave Portugal/Spain difficultly. I’d say weakest side in pot 3 is South Korea & Tunisia. Strongest sides in pot 4 is Ecadour or Ghana. If Ukraine makes it, they’ll be the most skilled. Scotland or Wales wouldn’t pose a threat. Wales rely on strictly on Bale. Peru & Australia are mediocre if they qualify. Costa Rica has they’re time in the 2014 WC and NZ aren’t anything special. I’d personally want Portugal. A side we’ve never beaten and have lost to by big margins. I really want Serbia from pot 3. Finally pot 4, give us Canada. A few teams I’m glad were avoiding in our pot is Denmark & Switzerland. Also, let’s go based on teams that HAVE QUALIFIED. We’ve beaten 7 of the teams at the World Cup that have qualified.
We’ve only had one CONCACAF team in our group at the World Cup. Loss to Mexico 3-1 2014.
South American: Win against Argentina 3-0 2018, loss to Brazil in 2006 1-0 & 3-1 2014 (cough* cough* fixed opening match). A loss against Ecuador, loss to Argentina 1998 1-0. Our World Cup record against South America is poor with a 1-4 record.
Asia: Draw against Japan 0-0 2006 and win 1-0 1998
Toughest group would be Brazil, Poland and Ecuador.
Weakest group: Qatar, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
All teams below will not qualify:
UAE
NZ
Australia
Scotland
Wales
Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia for wouldnt work for weakest group…
Can’t have more than 1 Asian team per group
We don’t want Canada mark my words the dark horse in this tournament
100% agree on that. Canada is better than US and Mexico. Would not want to mess with the Canucks.
But if they’re a problem for us, then they would be a problem for others in the group.
In the last World Cup, we were drawn with the strongest Pot C and Pot D team (Iceland and Nigeria) and they were a big problem for Argentina, causing them to lose points.
So, it doesn’t really matter how good they are. It’s moreso about getting a Pot C and Pot D team that would struggle against our style, so they could cause problems for the top seed instead of us.
For example…
I think Serbia may cause us more problems than they would a top seed, just because this is their everything. Not losing to Croatia, would be like winning the World Cup for them. They would go all-out against us, and leave nothing in the tank for the other two teams, ha ha.
At the same time, I think African teams really struggle against our creative skill in the midfield. Whereas, I think African teams cause teams like England some problems.
If we drew England and Ghana…I think Ghana causes bigger problems for England than they do us.
Oddly enough, Argentina seems to really struggle with African teams too. So, I’d be down with Argentina and Ghana too.
A dark horse? I just giggled and spat out my water reviewing this. Besides Larin, Borjan, Davies & David. Who else do they have?
I’ve only heard of Davies (who is excellent) and Borjan (because he’s a Serb).
Saw some Borjan highlights and he sucks.
Davies is great, but he’s one player. You could probably neutralize him by throwing Gvardiol at him to match the pace (since Juranovic can’t handle him). Broz could cut him off in the middle.
These other two (Larin and David) look like good strikers…but the rest of Canada’s team look bad.
That backline and goalkeeping will be punished.
I assume they would bank on long ball counters toward their strikers, or run things up the wing with Davies?
Nigeria tried that with us in the last World Cup and got destroyed.
Canada also has Buchanan on the wing and Eustaquio playmaking in the middle. Laryea coming off the bench is a nightmare for tired defenders. Junior Hoilett and Atiba Hutchinson are solid vets. They are dangerous on the counter but will peak for 2026. Based on the last 6 months, they’re still better than two Pot 2 teams; USA and Mexico. Not a good team to face imo.
disagree- 2 half decent forwards- their D is not good and will be exposed- they get rattled and with no world cup experience – i’d say the moment may be too big – can’t take away their run but I don’t see them as the dark horse- maybe long shot times 2 at best.
Prognoza
Qatar
Usa
Srbija
Saudi Arabia
Spanjolska
Hrvatska
Japan
Costa Rica
Portugal
Nemacka
Poljska
Wales
I would like Serbia Portugal and Canada
But I think we get a group that looks a bit harder
Brazil Croatia Poland Ghana
Don’t matter who we get let’s just play the way we know how to play and we will be just fine.
Btw… when we get Argentina we placed 3rd and 2nd….
Maybe 3rd tines a Charm? We get Argentina and go all the way this time???
Belgium
Croatia
Japan
Canada
Argentina always- man, we just love putting the boots to those guys- any Asian country- we’re good for one or 2 header goals and Cameroon or Ghana – they just don’t pass the ball so it’s pretty simple tactics there- just cut them off from long runs and we win it- I think we’ll do OK but i don’t see magic with this team and we’re surprising nobody- we suck as favorites.
Yea we played a strong Nigerian team very well at the last World Cup.
Nigeria was a team that relied heavily on their wings, and were big on making 2-3 passes before trying to score. Lots of long balls down the wing, a quick move or two, and send it in for a cross or try to score.
We gave them the middle of the field that game, and their defenders didn’t know what to do when we crowded the flanks.
Nigeria were very good that World Cup (they destroyed Iceland, and were unlucky and ref-biased against Argentina) yet we easily beat them, and it should have been 4-0 if it wasn’t for the open net misses by Rebic and Kovacic.
I don’t watch enough Ghana and Cameroon, but if they play in a similar fashion, then I would love to have them in our group.
wish we could only play African countries- they love the long run and no passing – we counter them very well and then they start holding in the box- penalty shot and game over. The Nigeria game last world cup was such a confidence builder in hindsight.
I would assume that Ghana or Ukraine would the most dangerous Pot 4 teams (and not Ecuador).
Ghana always performs well when they qualify, and they eliminated Nigeria.
Ukraine will have the war fueling them, and both teams will be tougher than pretty much all of the pot C teams.
Belgium as a pot A team would be nice for some revenge, plus they’re getting a tad overrated lately. Their team was better last World Cup.
I do like the idea of being drawn against Argentina again.
It will give them PTSD, and I love building rivalries with the elite teams in the World.
We’ve been building some nice football rivalries with England and Spain lately (similar to what we’ve had with Italy and Germany in the past).
Would love to see a Messi vs Modrić rematch on the World stage again.
I prefer to avoid Serbia, not because I fear them… But because I think Croatian football has evolved beyond the Balkan rivalries.
It would be nauseating to have to listen to the “deep rivalry” rhetoric in the media, when in reality, these two teams have only played twice and the gap in successes between them are huge.
I’d rather we continue the actual REAL football rivalries we have with England, Spain, etc.
Ecuador tied Brazil and Argentina? I don’t think they’re a walk in the park.
Toughest: France, Croatia, Senegal, Ecuador
Easiest: Qatar, Croatia, Tunisia, Canada
What I want: Argentina, Croatia, S. Korea, Ghana
Qatar would be ideal from Pot 1. If not Qatar than Argentina. On two occasions that we were in group with Argentina 1998 & 2018 we went on to semi final and final of the WC.
From Pot 3 we need to avoid Serbia, Senegal and Morocco. Serbia has a good team and a good coach in Dragan Stojkovic. Their defence is their weak point especially the goalkeeper. Their midfield is good but not as good as ours. However their forwards in Mitrovic and Vlahovic a way better than what we have.
Senegal and Morocco are also very strong with most of their players playing in
European Clubs.
From Pot 4 we need to avoid Equador, Peru (they will eliminate Australia) and the European country most likely Wales.
Ideal would be Qatar, Croatia,Tunisia and Saudia Arabia.
Those count Israel _+ never ever got banned for their aggression to Palestine!
and The same Ukraine government that supports apartheid Israel has got a ticket!
and You guys are a part of this joke ~
Portugal, Cro, Serbcunts and Australia would be fun
Qatar, Tunisia and Canada please lmao
Toughest: France Croatia Senegal Ecuador (look super good right now)
Easiest: Qatar Croatia Tunisia NZ
Favorable: Argentina Croatia Serbia UAE
Man NZ and UAE arent getting in, that’ll be Peru and Costa Rica for sure
Agree