Croatia vs Canada Prediction, Preview and Odds – 2022 World Cup: Who Will Win?

💯 Croatia vs Canada Betting Odds

Next up, we’re going to take a look at the core football betting markets pertaining to the Croatia vs Canada match. What’s more, we’ll appraise the latest real-time odds being offered by our recommended sportsbooks:

🏅 Croatia vs Canada: Match Winner Odds-

The top betting sites to secure big wins in Ireland.

Croatia to Win	1.85	1.83	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	1.85
Canada to Win	4.15	4.00	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	4.20
Draw	3.48	3.50	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	3.50

⚽ Croatia Vs Canada: Both Teams to Score Odds

Yes	1.95	1.90	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	1.85
No	1.86	1.80	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	1.85

🥅 Croatia vs Canada : Over/Under 2.5 Goals Odds

Over 2.5 Goals	2.05	2.00	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	2.05
Under 2.5 Goals	1.74	1.72	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	1.70

🏠 Croatia World Cup Preview

One of the most experienced sides at the 2022 World Cup, Croatia was ranked as the 15th best side in the world by FIFA in August. Due to the nature of the placings, the country was also established as the 10th best European side, while it always seems to compete strongly at major tournament finals.The side also arrived in Qatar in excellent form, having gone unbeaten in six matches since losing 3-0 to Austria at the beginning of June (and losing just one of their nine games immediately before the start of the World Cup).

This run included four successive UEFA Nations League A victories (which saw the team qualify for the 2022 finals), while the 1-0 win over France on June 13th offered a particularly highlight for the nation’s fans.

Of course, the disappointing draw with Morocco may have stalled some of this momentum, and they’ll be keen to kickstart their World Cup campaign in earnest against Canada.

🏆 Croatia World Cup History

Between 1930 and 1990, Croatia was officially a part of Yugoslavia. However, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia then split apart, with its constituent republics subsequently becoming independent nations in their own right.

This included Croatia, who starred in their first major international tournament at Euro ’96 before qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France and shocking everyone by earning a third-place finish.

Two disappointing group stage exits followed in 2002 and 2006, during which Croatia only won a single match out of the six they contested. They then failed to qualify at all in 2010, before returning in Brazil four years later with another group stage exit in the heat and humidity of South America.

However, a seasoned Croatia side returned to form in Russia 2018, overcoming England after extra-time in a tense semi-final before eventually losing 4-2 to France in a chaotic showpiece occasion. This remains the nation’s best performance in its relatively short WC history, but the team’s ability to repeat such a feat will depend in part on their ability to cope with the stifling conditions in Qatar.

✔️ Croatia Qualification and Road to the World Cup 2022

Croatia eventually qualified for Qatar with relative ease, despite being drawn into the deceptively challenging UEFA Group H alongside Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Ultimately, the Croats won seven and lost just one of their 10 qualification matches, topping the group by a single point ahead of Russia and finishing a distant nine points clear of third-place Slovakia.

The nation’s most impressive wins included a 1-0 home victory over nearest rivals Russia, while group whipping boys Malta were thrashed 7-1 in Ta' Qali.

⭐ Croatia Players to Watch

Many of Croatia’s expected World Cup squad members will be familiar to even casual fans and punters, as they primarily ply their trade in Europe’s top five leagues. Below, we’ve highlighted who we think are the three best players to keep your eyes on in Qatar!

• Ivan Perišić: While Ivan Perišić may be 33 years old, he remains a key performer for his country and has already made his mark for Tottenham despite the hustle and bustle of the Premier League. The tricky and reliable Perišić certainly guarantees end product, with 32 international goals in 113 caps and 139 career goals from midfield in 558 club appearances. While he has yet to score for Spurs, he has already laid on four goals for his teammates in just nine games across all competitions.
• Mateo Kovačić: While Perišić and the seemingly ageless Luka Modric often catch the eye of pundits, it’s Chelsea’s Mateo Kovačić that serves as Croatia’s engine. A powerful ball carrier with excellent technical skills and a keen willingness to tackle, Kovačić has won an impressive 81 international caps (and scored three goals) despite being just 28 years old. He certainly provides balance in the Croatian midfield and will play a pivotal role if Croatia are to progress through the knockout stages once again in Qatar .
• Joško Gvardiol: Versatile and skilful defender Joško Gvardiol hit the headlines on transfer deadline day, when his current club RB Leipzig rejected a €90 million offer from EPL side Chelsea and instead encouraged the 20-year-old to extend his contract with the Bundesliga side. Now a regular first-team starter for his country, Gvardiol has 10 international caps to this name and even managed to score his first goal for Croatia during 2022 World Cup qualification and the 3-0 win in Cyprus. A top young talent, he’ll definitely be one to watch this winter and as the tournament progresses..

📰 Latest Croatia World Cup News

✈️ Canada World Cup preview

Canada is currently ranked as the 43rd best team in the world by FIFA, having peaked at 40th following its first win over Mexico in more than 20 years during World Cup qualifying. Interestingly, despite only being ranked as the fourth best side in the CONCACAF region, Canada qualified for Qatar ahead of all of their rivals after a superb run of performances (we’ll touch more on this below).

This highlights the emergence of a new generation of exciting Canadian players, including UEFA Champions League winner and marauding left-back Alphonso Davies (who plays for Bayern Munich) and Lille’s coveted €30 million forward Jonathan David.

The establishment of the nation’s first professional tournament in the form of the Canadian Premier League has also driven a resurgence in Canadian football, with the side subsequently showcasing genuine belief and fearless both during CONCACAF WC qualifying and the defeat against Belgium in the opening World Cup match.

So, although Canada endured some patchy form overall through 2022 (including defeats against Honduras and Uruguay in June and September respectively), they pose a real threat that Croatia will have to take seriously!

So, although Canada will arrive in Qatar as one of the lowest-ranked competing sides, the nation boasts its best ever squad of players and will have nothing to lose as it looks to make history.

🏆 Canada World Cup History

Qatar will see Canada make just their second World Cup finals appearance, although a third is guaranteed in 2026 with the nation qualifying automatically as co-hosts alongside the US and Mexico.

Canada’s previous appearance at the top table of international football came in 1986, when the side lost all three of their group games in Mexico and were eliminated at the group stage. They also ended the tournament goalless, and have already commenced the search of their first points, win and goal at the finals in Qatar.

This search was fruitless against the Red Devils, of course, but as co-hosts of the aforementioned tournament in 2026, Canada will certainly be looking to make their mark in the Middle East.

They’ll also hope that their youthful, talented and fearless squad will be able to overpower Croatia in this Group F encounter, and potentially take a significant step towards the coveted round of 16.

✔️ Canada Qualification and Road to the World Cup 2022

Due to their unfavourable ranking ahead of CONCACAF qualifying (Canada was listed as the world’s 73rd best team at the time of the draw), the side had to progress through three rounds of qualifying and 20 matches to seal their place in Qatar.

While they waltzed through round one with a 100% record and comfortably beat Haiti in a two-legged playoff during the second round, many expected them to struggle in the final round against more fancied sides like Mexico, Costa Rica and the USA.

However, they remained unbeaten in their first 11 matches and ultimately secured an unlikely top spot in the group, relegating Mexico into second place and forcing the United States down into third.

⭐ Canada Players to Watch

As we’ve already touched on, Canada boasts some exceptional young players who are forming part of a new and potentially golden generation. Here are three of the best to keep your eyes on in Qatar this winter and in the game against Croatia!

• Jonathan David: We’ll start with the supremely talented striker Jonathan David, who at just 22 years old has already scored 22 goals in just 36 international caps. This included an impressive nine during WC qualifying, while David has also scored 11 in his last 24 outings for his country. David will continue to lead the Canadian line with distinction in Qatar, while he has also started the 2022/23 season in good form for Lille with nine goals in 15 games. Overall, he has scored 78 times in 194 matches during his burgeoning club career, and remains a potent threat in the final third for Canada
• Alphonso Davies: Another young and highly promising star, 21-year-old Alphonso Davies has already earned a UCL winner’s medal with club side Bayern Munich. Interestingly, the powerful and pacy full back often plays far higher up the pitch and more centrally for his country, thanks to his relative technical ability and innate eye for goal. In fact, he has already scored 12 times for his country in just 32 appearances, including a stunning, 80-yard solo goal in qualifying against Panama that saw him hit a top speed of 37.1km/h. He also starred against Belgium and will one to watch against Croatia!
• Lucas Cavallini: While 29-year-old Lucas Cavallini is one of the older heads in the Canadian squad, he’s also a reliable and effective central striker who struck six times during WC qualifying. In fact, he has scored 17 goals in 32 appearances for his country, at a strike rate that’s even more impressive than his return at club level (where he has 92 goals in 271 appearances for various Central and South American sides). He’ll definitely be one to watch as a player who largely shares the goal scoring burden with David and Davies, although he wasn’t called on to appear at all during the 1-0 defeat to Belgium.

📰 Latest Canada World Cup News

🥇 Croatia vs Canada Prediction - Who Will Win?

This is an increasingly tough match to call after the initial round of Group F fixtures, with this reflected by subsequent changes to the bookmakers’ odds.

More specifically, the price of a Canada win has shortened since the side’s performance against Japan, while Croatia (despite remaining favourites) have seen their odds lengthen during the same period.

While many feel as though Canada could spring a surprise against a seemingly jaded and uninspired Croatia side, but this ignores the latter’s undeniable experience, pedigree and unique ability to raise their game when they need to the most. We certainly expect them to be better than they were against Morocco, with seasoned campaigners like Kovacic, Perisic and Luka Modric likely to step forward and showcase their class on the international stage.

So, although this could well be a low-scoring match in which Canada huff, puff and play with tremendous energy (as they did against Belgium), we’re backing Croatia to nick this by the odd goal.

Our match prediction:Croatia to win.

🔍 Our Croatia vs Canada Betting Tips?

If you fancy placing an ante-post match bet on this contest, we’d recommend staking a small amount of cash on Canada to win.

You can get on this at 3.50 with BoyleSports, although the odds could well shorten a little more in the build-up to the contest.

Perhaps a more favourable option is to access over / under betting in relation to the total goals scored. Despite the presence of star players like Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies, Canada looked incredibly profligate in front of goal against Belgium, while Croatia’s lack of a prolific striker also suggests that there will be under 2.5 goals scored in the game.

Similarly, we’d avoid backing both sides to score, with the match most likely to be settled by one or two moments of Croatian quality.

🎁 Croatia Vs Canada World Cup Free Bets

Before we go, we thought we’d take a quick look at some of best free World Cup bet offers currently being tabled by our recommended sportsbooks.

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✒️ Lewis Humphries - Sports Journalist, Tipster and Betting Expert

This Croatia vs Canada Prediction was written by Lewis Humphries. Lewis is a business and iGaming copywriter from the UK, who has a passion for sports betting and online casino gaming. He's reviewed some of the world's leading casino platforms, while creating blog posts and landing page content for various sports betting brands.

His content has also featured on a number of different sites, including Life Hack, Investopedia, Yahoo Finance and Business Insider. He also pens regular sports features for sites including 90 Minutes, Think Football Ideas and Sportsblog.