A new team out of competition.

Croatia, vice-world champion in title held in check by Morocco during the first day, won Sunday, November 27 in Doha against Canada (4-1).

The latter became the second team eliminated from the 2022 World Cup after Qatar.

Thanks to this victory, Croatia are back in first place in Group F, tied on points with the Atlas Lions (four), and ahead of Belgium (three points), which they will face next Thursday (4:00 p.m.) .

The Red Devils will have to win to be sure of reaching the round of 16, after their embarrassing defeat earlier this Sunday against Morocco (2-0).

Before this duel, the Croats were reassured, and even found themselves against Canada, controlling the game overall.

One player particularly dazzled the meeting, and it was not the captain and 2018 Ballon d'Or Luka Modric, but the striker Andrej Kramaric, twice scorer and elusive for the Canadian defense.

The Hoffenheim player first thought to equalize with a cross shot from the right foot but his goal was canceled for an offside position (26th).

He then started again, with a cross shot with his left foot this time (1-1, 36th), then scored the third goal, sealing the result of the match, with a new unstoppable shot from the left after a right hook ( 70th).

Before that, Marko Livaja, holder after the injury of Nikola Vlasic during the first meeting of the Croats, had given the advantage to his people with a tense strike at ground level (44th).

Canada too friable

In addition to the ample score, the red and white checkered selection once again honored its nickname, the "Vatreni" (the Flamboyants), and its status as vice-world champion.

The match had started badly, however, when Alfonso Davies scored with an angry header from the start (2nd), a few minutes after the Canadians' victory in the Davis Cup.

The Bayern Munich player probably wanted to redeem himself after his missed penalty in the defeat against Belgium (1-0).

Very prominent during the first 25 minutes, during which the "Canucks" overtook the players of Vlatko Dalic, he also embodied the defensive shortcomings of his selection.

It was he who was overtaken by Juranovic, who then found Livaja, during the second Croatian goal.

The first 25 minutes full of audacity were the maple that hid the Canadian forest, as the Canucks were brittle defensively.

It was a new individual error that allowed Lovro Majer to score the fourth Croatian goal (90th + 4).

Enough to inflate the confidence of Modric's teammates before the long-awaited match against Belgium.

(With AFP)

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