June 12 – You might not believe it but in the hype and excitement around tonight’s World Cup opening match there is in fact another team on the ptich with Brazil. They are called Croatia, they come from Europe and they might be the rollover that the script has writen for them. For each match of the World Cup, in partnership wth the Association of Football Statisticians and its 11.11.com website, we will give you an at-a-glance guide to stats, form and need to know trivia. Qucik to use and to the point, this info section will keep you on the ball.
Head to Head games:
13/06/06 Brazil 1 – 0 Croatia (World Cup) http://www.11v11.com/matches/brazil-v-croatia-13-june-2006-273721/
17/08/05 Croatia 1 – 1 Brazil (Friendly) http://www.11v11.com/matches/croatia-v-brazil-17-august-2005-254798/
Fifa Ranking (June 2nd 2014)
Brazil: Rank: 3 Points: 1242
Croatia: Rank: 18 Points: 903
World Cup 2014 Qualifying
Brazil: Qualified as hosts
Croatia: Second in UEFA Group A with 17 points (P10 W5 D2 L3 GF12 GA9)
Play-off v Iceland: Iceland 0-0 Croatia, Croatia 2-0 Iceland
Last 10 Matches
Brazil
LWWWWWWWWW
14/08/13 Switzerland 1 – 0 Brazil Friendly
07/09/13 Brazil 6 – 0 Australia Friendly
11/09/13 Brazil 3 – 1 Portugal Friendly
12/10/13 Korea Republic 0 – 2 Brazil Friendly
15/10/13 Brazil 2 – 0 Zambia Friendly
17/11/13 Honduras 0 – 5 Brazil Friendly
20/11/13 Brazil 2 – 1 Chile Friendly
05/03/14 South Africa 0 – 5 Brazil Friendly
03/06/14 Brazil 4 – 0 Panama Friendly
06/06/14 Brazil 1 – 0 Serbia Friendly
Goals for: 30 Goals against: 3
Croatia:
WDWLLDWDWW
14/08/13 Liechtenstein 2 – 3 Croatia Friendly
06/09/13 Serbia 1 – 1 Croatia World Cup Qualification Europe
10/09/13 Korea Republic 1 – 2 Croatia Friendly
11/10/13 Croatia 1 – 2 Belgium World Cup Qualification Europe
15/10/13 Scotland 2 – 0 Croatia World Cup Qualification Europe
15/11/13 Iceland 0 – 0 Croatia World Cup Qualification Europe
19/11/13 Croatia 2 – 0 Iceland World Cup Qualification Europe
05/03/14 Switzerland 2 – 2 Croatia Friendly
31/05/14 Croatia 2 – 1 Mali Friendly
07/06/14 Croatia 1 – 0 Australia Friendly
Goals for: 13 Goals against: 11
Brazil v Croatia
Opening game facts
The host nation has never lost their opening World Cup game (14 wins 6 draws)
In 1950 Brazil, as hosts, defeated Mexico 4-0 in their opening game
8 of the last 12 World Cup opening matches produced one goal or less
A Hull City player could kick-off a World Cup tournament for the first time ever
Brazil facts
Brazil are the only team to have taken part in all 20 World Cup tournaments
Brazil have won the most World Cup matches (67) & scored the most goals (210)
Brazil have won 8 of their last 9 World Cup matches in the group stages (1 draw)
Brazil’s only defeat in the last 21 matches came v Switzerland last August (W16, D4, L1).
Brazil are unbeaten in 37 matches in Brazil since a defeat by Paraguay in 2002.
Only 6 of Brazil’s 23-man squad have World Cup experience.
Neymar has scored 22 goals in his last 28 international appearances.
Neymar’s number 10 shirt was worn by Pele in 4 World Cups (1958, 1962, 1966, 1970)
Croatia facts
Croatia have conceded just 11 goals in 13 World Cup matches (0.85/game) – the best ratio among the teams in Brazil 2014
Croatia’s last 9 World Cup games have produced 6 red cards
Croatia are unbeaten in the 5 matches since Niko Kovac took charge (W3 D2)
Current coach Nico Kovac scored Croatia’s most recent World Cup goal as a player (on 22 June 2006 v Australia)
Source: www.11v11.com