FIFA World Cup: Croatia vs Canada Betting Odds GAME RECAP
Croatia Frustrated in Opener
⚽Croatia vs Canada: Game Recap⚽
Results: Croatia 4 – 1 Canada
Who F’d who? Canada coach, John Herdman, ate his words as Croatia sent Canada out of the competition with a 4-1 win on Sunday evening.
Canada threatened an early upset, with Alphonso Davies heading the Great North into a lead after only 68 seconds. It was a beautiful header, with the Bayern Munich man jet-heeled to dominate the Croatian defender in the air.
John Herdman — whose words in the build-up set an incendiary tone — would have been happy with his side’s start, but Croatia’s midfield dominance began to see them edge back quickly into the game. Mateo Kovacic was brilliant in the engine room, pivotal to waves of checked attacks.
Andrej Kramaric had a goal ruled out for offside, only to score for real from a tight angle moments later. Marko Livaja added a second with a rasping drive, which seemed to break Canadian resistance. Kramaric added a gorgeous second goal after 70 minutes, as Canada began to tire. Lovro Majer finished off a counter-attack in added time to cap off an excellent Croatian performance.
Canada is now the second team eliminated from the World Cup. Fans did not expect them to get out of the group, but they still showed their quality. Canada football fans should be proud of how the team presented itself to the world.
Croatia is now level on points with Morocco after their win against Belgium. It will all come down to the final match to see who makes it to the World Cup Round of 16.
 Croatia | – |  Canada |
|---|---|---|
| 48% | Possession | 52% |
| 13 | Total Shots | 8 |
| 10 | Shots on Target | 2 |
| 3 | Shots Wide | 3 |
| 0 | Shots Blocked | 3 |
| 1 | Saves | 8 |
| 5 | Corners | 2 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 13 | Fouls | 5 |
| 1 | Offsides | 3 |
| 84% | Pass Accuracy | 85% |
| 4 | Dribbles | 10 |
| 21 | Crosses | 17 |
| 25 | Tackles | 15 |
Did We Get It Right?
Below you will find all the predictions we made before the matchup, on November 24th, 2022.
Croatia Frustrated in Opener
Croatia, the 2018 World Cup finalists, failed to pick up where they left off in their opening match in 2022. Morocco held Croatia to a scoreless draw and Croatia’s performance wasn’t particularly inspiring. Canada, on the other hand, outplayed Belgium in their first match despite losing 1-0. It’ll be interesting to see if this upstart Canada side can cause problems for Croatia as well. Let’s take a look at the match and Croatia vs Canada betting odds.
Croatia vs Canada
Date, time (TV):
Location: Khalifa International Stadium, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar
Streaming: FS1, Telemundo, Peacock
Team Standings and Odds:
| Team | FIFA World Ranking | World Cup Qualifying Record | Knockout Stage Odds | Odds to Win Group | Odds to Win World Cup |
| Croatia | 12 | 7-2-1, 1st UEFA Group H | -125 | +300 | +6500 |
| Canada | 41 | 8-4-2, 1st CONCACAF | +275 | +1200 | +20000 |
Head-to-Head:
This will be the first-ever meeting between Croatia and Canada and is an intriguing match to bet on the World Cup.
Croatia: Modric Still Running the Show
Standings: 0-1-0, T-2nd
Previous Match: D, 0-0 vs. Morocco
Upcoming Match: Dec. 1 vs. Belgium
Croatia’s success in this World Cup is very much predicated on the play of Luka Modric. Croatia’s captain is now 37 years old but he’s aging like a fine wine. The Real Madrid captain was at the center of everything for Croatia vs. Morocco on Wednesday. His use of space is second to none and he almost floats around the pitch trying to find openings. Despite Modric’s presence, Croatia didn’t manage to find a breakthrough vs. Morocco.
The Vatreni’s lack of a prolific number nine is apparent. Long gone is Mario Mandzukic and Andrej Kramaric has managed just 20 goals in 75 national team caps. Winger Ivan Perisic has come through in big moments but scoring is certainly a question for Croatia. The FIFA World Cup 2022 odds originally listed Croatia at -280 odds to advance to the knockout stage. After the first match, they now show just a -125 price.
Most of that stems from the fact that they were widely expected to win their first match. Now, with Belgium still left on the schedule things become a lot more complicated if they don’t win this match. Coach Zlatko Dalic may very well shake things up a bit to give the side a bit of a spark vs. Canada. They certainly can’t afford to start off slow as Canada are capable of running them off of the pitch.
Canada: A Team Nobody Wants to Face
Standings: 0-1, 4th
Previous Match: L, 0-1 vs. Belgium
Upcoming Match: Dec. 1 vs. Morocco
Canada impressed in CONCACAF qualifying with a surprise first place finish. What was even more surprising was the way they dominated Belgium for long stretches of their match on Wednesday. To hang with the world’s second ranked team for 90+ minutes is a big achievement, even if it ended with a loss. Alphonso Davies was certainly disappointed not to convert his first half penalty. However, the versatile Bayern Munich man played well otherwise and is a huge asset for Canada to have.
After their performance vs. Belgium, it’s doubtful Canada’s Group F foes are looking forward to facing them. Les Rogues use their athleticism to their advantage and it could be a big asset vs. an aging Croatia team. Canada’s coach John Herdman said they had “nothing to lose” vs. Belgium and they’ll likely take that approach once again.
The Croatia vs Canada betting odds may list Canada as underdogs but their odds have been trending in the right direction. After outshooting Belgium 22-9 it seems like only a matter of time before Canada get their first-ever World Cup goal. Davies and Jonathan David are a great one-two punch and Croatia could have problems containing them. This match could be a personal one for Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan. He’s an ethnic Serb who was born in Croatia and he and his family fled to Canada during the Croatian War of Independence. Borjan currently plays in Serbia with Red Star Belgrade.
Match Analysis and Odds:
The Croatia vs Canada betting odds still price Croatia as favorites, after they opened up at -135. However, they now sit at longer than even odds, at +110 to win. Croatia’s moneyline and ATS odds are the same, while Canada +½ shows -130 odds. In four previous World Cup matches, Canada have never picked up a point but their chances seem quite solid here.
A Canada win has moved from +380 to +265 odds. So, they’ve gone from a 20.8 percent implied likelihood of victory to a 27.4 percent chance. A draw has also moved from +265 to +235 odds, so far. Both teams will still be alive in the event of a draw but expect both managers to set up to try to win all three points.
Canada fans is that this is expected to be the match where they finally see their team score in a World Cup. Canada to score shows -215 odds and the over/under goal total for the match is 2½ goal
The good news for Canada fans is that this is expected to be the match where they finally see their team score in a World Cup. Canada to score shows -215 odds and the over/under goal total for the match is 2½ goals. With neither offense finding the net in the opening match, the under comes in at -135 odds and the over shows a +115 price. Punters seem to be expecting Canada to cause Croatia some problems and it’s easy to see why based on the first batch of matches.
