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World Cup 2022 Team Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Croatia

How will Croatia fare at the 2022 World Cup? Join @SamRCox_ as he looks at the Kockasti in his everything you need to know guide ahead of this winter's competition...

Croatia History at the World Cup

Since becoming an independent FIFA nation, Croatia have qualified for all but one World Cup (2010).

Their run to the final in 2018 was their best performance to date, going one better than their semi-final exit at the 1998 tournament when the iconic Davor Šuker won the Golden Boot.

Luka Modric won the Golden Ball in 2018, as the Croatians defeated England, Russia and Denmark in the knockout rounds after progressing from a group with Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria.

Croatia qualify for Qatar 2022 🇭🇷

36-year-old Luka Modric is set to play in his fourth World Cup 👏

𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡. 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥. 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/6929bp43Hq
— GOAL (@goal) November 14, 2021

Their defeat to France in the final was their joint-heaviest in World Cup history, losing by two clear goals for just the third time.

In 2014, Croatia failed to make it out of their group for a third straight World Cup entry. That tournament did feature their largest World Cup win, however, as they beat Cameroon 4-0 in the round-robin.

Overall, the Croatians have won 11 of their 23 World Cup matches, drawing four others. They have averaged over a goal per match with 35 scored, but have also conceded over a goal per match with 26 goals against in the competition.

Croatia Nickname

The Croatian team are known as the Kockasti, which means ‘the chequered ones’. This is due to their chequered logo on the national flag and the trademark red and white pattern on their home kit.

Fans might also hear them referred to as Vatreni, meaning ‘The Blazers’.

World Cup 2022 Group

Croatia are in Group F for the 2022 World Cup, alongside Belgium, Morocco and Canada.

They are online betting favourites for their first two fixtures at the end of November, and will hope to have their place in the last 16 wrapped up before they face Belgium at the start of December.

Croatia Fixtures:

Croatia vs Morocco – 23rd November 2022
Croatia vs Canada – 27th November 2022
Croatia vs Belgium – 1st December 2022

Croatia Kit World Cup 2022

The chequered pattern isn’t going to shock anyone, but Nike have taken a gamble with the Croatian World Cup home kit, leaving a curious white patch on the chest. The centralised swoosh and logo look good, yet the ensemble doesn’t quite work.

More 2022 World Cup kits revealed by Nike on Thursday: Portugal 🇵🇹, Netherlands 🇳🇱, France 🇫🇷 and Croatia 🇭🇷 pic.twitter.com/gWXQgqDMtb
— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) September 15, 2022

A navy blue away kit has light blue checks across one of the shoulders, fading on the chest. The most Marmite kit of the World Cup.

Who is The Croatia Manager?

Zlatko Dalić is the current Croatia manager. Dalić led the Croatians to the World Cup final four years ago, but saw his team knocked out at the last 16 of the European Championships last summer.

The Livno native has won half of his matches in charge of Kockasti, the worst winning percentage since Zlatko Kranjčar.

Best Croatia Player

Even having just celebrated his 37th birthday, there is still an argument that Luka Modric is Croatia’s best player. Class, after all, is permanent.

🗣 "He's an unbelievable talent and will absolutely pose a threat."

Rob Page is in high praise of Luka Modric, a player they will be coming up against with Croatia pic.twitter.com/rvI2sETfaD
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 9, 2022

Modric will be joined by his long-time midfield accomplices Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic at the World Cup, while Tottenham’s Ivan Perisic remains a regular.

Chelsea target Josko Gvardiol has the highest market value.

Croatia Odds at 2022 World Cup

Behind only Belgium in World Cup betting for Group F at 11/4 to win the section, Croatia are expected to make it into the knockout rounds, but a quarter-final appearance is unlikely with odds of 3/1.

They are way out at 25/1 to repeat their placing of runners-up from 2018.

Bet on Croatia at the 2022 World Cup with 888sport today!

October 11, 2022

World Cup 2026

By Sam Cox

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Sam is a sports tipster, specialising in the Premier League and Champions League.

He covers most sports, including cricket and Formula One. Sam particularly enjoys those on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean – notably MLB and NBA.

Watching, writing and talking about sports betting takes up most of his time, whether that is for a day out at T20 Finals Day or a long night of basketball.

Having been writing for several years, Sam has been working with 888Sport since 2016, contributing multiple articles per week to the blog.

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World Cup 2022 Team Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Canada

How will Canada fare at the 2022 World Cup? Join @SamRCox_ as he looks at the Maple Leafs in his everything you need to know guide ahead of this winter's competition...

Canada History at the World Cup

Canada have only qualified for the World Cup on one previous occasion, losing all three of their group matches without scoring in 1986.

Their tournament began with a 1-0 loss to France, which was followed by 2-0 losses to Hungary and the Soviet Union.

While this World Cup cycle has seen a major breakthrough for the Canadian men’s team with fresh talent coming through, they have had near-misses in World Cup qualification in previous years.

Watch Alphonso Davies AMAZING reaction as Canada qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986! 🇨🇦pic.twitter.com/flDGSdrUUM
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) March 28, 2022

On this occasion, however, they were the class of CONCACAF, topping the third-round of qualification with eight wins and four draws from 16 matches.

Their progress has been evident over the last few years. After three consecutive Gold Cup group stage exits between 2011 and 2015, they reached the last eight in 2017 and 2019 before going one better and reaching the semis in 2021.

It was a heart-breaking defeat, with Mexico scoring the winner deep into injury time, but the tournament experience will stand this squad in good stead for Qatar.

Canada Nickname

Known as The Reds or The Maple Leafs, the Canadian nicknames are straight-forward.

The former is a nod to the red in their first choice strip, and the latter is due to the Maple Leaf in the centre of the Canadian flag.

World Cup 2022 Group

Canada were drawn alongside live betting World Cup dark horses Belgium, 2018 finalists Croatia and 22nd-ranked Morocco.

The Canadians begin their World Cup campaign in Al Rayyan for their first two fixtures before switching to Doha for their clash with Morocco at the start of December.

Canada Fixtures:

Canada vs Belgium – 23rd November 2022
Canada vs Croatia – 27th November 2022
Canada vs Morocco – 1st December 2022

Canada Kit World Cup 2022

For some bizarre, frustrating reason, Canada will not be getting new kits for the 2022 World Cup. The red home jersey has a fun font, plus a slight pattern on the sleeves, but it is largely ordinary.

Canada will be the only nation at the 2022 World Cup not sporting a brand new kit 🤔
— GOAL News (@GoalNews) September 24, 2022

The white away is as dull as it gets. While we weren’t expecting anything garish, a completely plain white shirt is lazy.

Who is The Canada Manager?

County Durham native John Herdman is Canada’s head coach for the 2022 World Cup.

Previously manager of the New Zealand and Canadian women’s teams, Herdman has led the Reds to their highest ever placing in the world rankings and became the first ever coach to take a nation’s men’s and women’s teams to a World Cup.

Best Canada Player

Jonathan David is an ascendant star, and Junior Hoilett is a familiar name for Championship predictions followers, but Alphonso Davies is clearly Canada’s best player.

Fulfilling a different role for the Maple Leafs than he does with Bayern, Davies has a projected market value of almost £70 million.

Alphonso Davies was forced off injured after taking a boot to the face from Jude Bellingham. The #CANMNT star is reportedly on the way to the hospital to check for a suspected concussion. pic.twitter.com/K5uR3ge8aO
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 8, 2022

Canada Odds at 2022 World Cup

Canada are World Cup betting outsiders in Group F, priced at 10/1 to win the section.

They are 9/1 to beat Belgium and out at 33/10 to take all three points when they face Croatia. Just six teams have longer odds to reach the quarter finals – making it out of the group would be a massive success.

Bet on Canada at the 2022 World Cup with 888sport today!

October 11, 2022

World Cup 2026

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World Cup 2022 Team Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Germany

How will Germany fare at the 2022 World Cup? Join @SamRCox_ as he looks at the four-time World Cup winners in his everything you need to know guide ahead of this winter's competition...

Germany History at the World Cup

Only Brazil can better Germany’s tally of four World Cups. The Germans have recorded 13 semi-final appearances in the history of the competition, which is two more than any other nation.

They were the disappointment of the tournament four years ago, however, falling at the group stage after winning in Brazil four years prior. That failure in Russia was Germany’s first exit before the last four since 1998.

Germany have scored 226 World Cup goals. Yes, you guessed it, that’s only behind Brazil (229).

Two of the three leading scorers in World Cup history are German, and Germany have had five players finish in the top three for the Golden Ball. Two Germans have won the Golden Glove, too.

What a second half between England and Germany 🤩🔥

Ready for the World Cup 🤝 pic.twitter.com/s8zAOyaOr8
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 26, 2022

Since winning their first title in 1954 against the revolutionary Hungary team, Germany have appeared in six more World Cup finals, including two since the turn of the century.

They won their last World Cup in 2014, hammering Brazil in the semis before beating Argentina in the final.

The 2018 tournament was one of only two first-round exits, the previous of which was in 1938.

They have featured in every World Cup since they were banned from entering in 1950, and have a biggest win of 8-0 over Saudi Arabia in 2002. There are only three bigger victories in World Cup history.

Germany Nickname

Germany have several nicknames which fans may encounter during World Cup coverage. Nationalelf, meaning ‘National Eleven’ is very much the does what it says on the tin of World Cup nicknames.

There is also the DFB-Team or DFB-Elf, referring to the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, which is the German Football Association. Commentators are most likely, though, to go with Die Mannschaft, meaning ‘The Team’.

World Cup 2022 Group

Germany meet Japan, Spain and Costa Rica in Group E.

Die Mannschaft get their tournament underway against Samurai Blue on 23rd November before the live betting highlight of the first round when they take on Spain.

Germany Fixtures:

Germany vs Japan – 23rd November 2022
Germany vs Spain – 27th November 2022
Germany vs Costa Rica – 1st December 2022

Germany Kit World Cup 2022

Germany’s two kits for the 2022 World Cup are belters. The standard white for the home attire has been switched up with a wide black stripe down the middle, which serves as a background for a gold logo.

Germany's home and away kits for the 2022 World Cup 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/RicQjA5C7w
— GOAL (@goal) August 29, 2022

The colours of the flag are around the collar with black trim on the sleeves and bottom of the shirt.

Gold features for the Adidas stripes and logo on the away shirt with a deep red and black pattern across the body.

Who is The Germany Manager?

Former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick is the Germany manager for the World Cup. Flick was a long-time assistant to Joachim Löw, who he succeeded in 2021.

With a winning percentage of just under 70%, Flick has the best mark of any Germany manager, but this will be his first taste of tournament football.

The Heidelberg native won two Bundesligas and the Champions League with Bayern, and was awarded UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year in 2019-20.

Best Germany Player

Like most of the top sides, there’s a debate to be had about the best Germany player ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Manuel Neuer are two of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Ilkay Gundogan, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich are among the elite at their position, while there’s no doubting the quality of Thomas Muller, Kai Havertz, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane. Jamal Musiala is one of the best young players in the world.

Kimmich probably gets the nod if you have to pick.

The pass master! 👌

Joshua Kimmich has the vision and ability to unlock the best defences, but will he come away with an assist on Saturday? 🔐 ✅ 🤔#DerKlassiker | #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/gSVO7o4XBX
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) October 5, 2022

Germany Odds at 2022 World Cup

Germany are Evens to win Group E in World Cup betting, just behind Spain.

They are 7/4 to beat the Spaniards when they meet in the second round of group stage fixtures, and bookies fancy their chances of going on a run despite falling in the first round four years ago.

While not among the favourites at 9/1 to lift the trophy, Germany are 8/11 to reach the last eight and 2/1 to play in the semi-finals.

Bet on Germany at the 2022 World Cup with 888sport today!

October 10, 2022

World Cup 2026