Kick-off: 1500, 01/12/2022
Stadium: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium
TV: BBC1
Croatia have never failed to qualify from their World Cup group in five previous appearances and can continue that trend in Qatar.
The 2018 finalists only need a point to progress and are tipped to secure a share of the spoils with under-pressure Belgium at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Punters can get 9/4 for this match to end in stalemate and that makes sense for our first Croatia vs Belgium prediction.
Croatia Odds
Croatia got their campaign off to a cautious start when drawing 0-0 with Morocco and fell behind early on versus Canada.
This experienced side remained calm and composed, though, and came back to win Sunday’s encounter 4-1.
Some neat build-up play allowed Andrej Kramaric to produce a clinical finish and a lethal Marko Livaja strike from the edge of the area put the Blazers ahead before half-time.
It was all too easy for Kramaric to net again on 70 minutes and Mislav Orsic unselfishly teed up Lovro Majer to add a fourth on the break in stoppage time.
Belgium’s defence will not be as accommodating and Zlatko Dalic commented: “It’s a World Cup, there are no easy games. It will be a difficult match.”
However, following on from a highly-efficient run to the Nations League semi-finals, Croatia are now unbeaten in eight outings and full of confidence.
In a match where their opponents must come out and chase victory, 31/20 for the Blazers not to lose and both teams to score stands out from the Croatia vs Belgium odds.
Belgium Odds
After coming up short in the latter stages of four straight major tournaments, Belgium’s golden generation may just be feeling the strain in Qatar.
The Red Devils were a touch fortunate to secure a 1-0 success versus Canada, who missed one penalty and could have had a couple more.
Roberto Martinez’s men then began brightly enough against Morocco but eventually wilted late on in a worrying 2-0 loss.
Belgium are not out of last-16 contention but Martinez believes pressure to perform is getting to his team.
“We lack that joy, it may be due to the weight we’re carrying on our shoulders,” the Spanish coach said. “We have to analyse the situation.”
Kevin De Bruyne’s suggestion that a line-up packed full of thirtysomethings is past its best prompted some tetchy responses from his teammates.
Croatia also have some valiant veterans, so the pace of this contest could help to counter that issue.
Even so, the Red Devils just don’t seem to have much spark at present and 11/2 for a 1-1 draw completes our Croatia vs Belgium betting tips.
Additional stats
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