Heading into the final matches in Group G, there was a lot of discussion around the Belgium-England match and the incentive to lose. The bracket was already mostly set, and the powerhouse teams were in the top half. Specifically the winner of Belgium-England would likely face Brazil in the quarterfinals while Sweden awaited the loser. Belgium would defeat England 1-0 to win the group and go on to face Brazil. England would face Sweden. But perhaps, the biggest winner in the whole situation was neither Belgium for winning the group nor England for dodging Brazil, but instead...Croatia.
Croatia's first knockout game was vs Denmark, the second place finisher of Group C. Denmark took the early lead but Croatia equalized and advanced on penalties.
You'd have expected their next game to be against Spain, but instead faced Russia, the second place finisher of Group A. Russia was outclassed by Spain but was given a penalty via handball that was definitively not intentional (though he shouldn't have had his hand up). Russia again had a first-half lead but Croatia equalized and advanced on penalties.
And that brings us to today. Before the Cup, everyone expected Germany to win Group F. Instead it was Sweden after the Germans flamed out in the group stage. The other Group winner on this side, Group H, was Columbia. Their star, Rodriguez was injured and couldn't play against England. So England advanced against a depleted Columbia and avoided Germany. Croatia didn't have to play Belgium or Germany or Columbia, they faced England, the second place finisher of Group G.
Yep, three knockout games all against teams that finished second in their group. (Meanwhile, France defeated two group winners in Uruguay and Belgium plus Argentina.)
Could Croatia had beaten Spain in the quarterfinals or Belgium/Germany in the semifinals? It would have been tougher, that's for sure.
But it is worth recognizing how Croatia earned the spot on this side of the bracket. They won their group. They beat Argentina 3-0 on June 21. Flip that result and Croatia would have faced France in the round of 16.
Belgium and Croatia were the only two teams to secure 9 points in the group stage. So Croatia is the only team that's won all 6 games they've played.
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