Croatia Eliminated Brazil From The World Cup In Penalties After A 117th Minute Goal

The favorites to lift the World Cup are heading home. While a Neymar goal in extra time looked like it was going to lead to his first World Cup semifinal appearance, Croatia defeated Brazil in penalties on Friday in the quarterfinal to secure a spot in the semis after a Marquinhos effort to extend the game went off the post.

Croatia, as they are wont to do, spent all 90 minutes of regulation frustrating Brazil. Every time it looked like the South American giants had the opportunity to score, Croatia put out the fire, proving nigh impossible to break down.

That continued for much of the first period of extra time. The fourth official put up one added minute, and while Brazil could have sat on the ball and waited for the referee’s whistle to blow, Neymar had other ideas. The Paris Saint-Germain star stood on the ball and executed a series of 1-2s — first with Rodrygo, then with Lucas Paquetá — to get himself into the box.

Croatia’s defense, once again, scrambled to try and put out the fire. Instead, Neymar shrugged off a challenge by Borna Sosa, got around Dominik Livaković, and smashed the ball into the top of the net.

There may not be a team in world football more capable of rallying back in this exact sort of situation as Croatia, though, as seven of their last eight knockout round matches have gone to extra time. And in the 117th minute, the tying goal came by way of a sensational counterattack that saw Mislav Oršić run into the box and play a ball into Bruno Petković.

Marquinhos tried to block his effort, but instead, the ball came off of his leg in such a way that Alisson couldn’t stop it from going into the net.

In penalties, Nikola Vlašić stepped up first and scored, while Brazil went with Rodrygo, who was denied by Livaković. The second round of penalties came awfully close to going the same way: Lovro Majer beat Alisson, while Livaković guessed right on Casemiro’s effort. Unfortunately for him, the Manchester United star placed it just out of his reach.

Luka Modrić, one of the greatest midfielders of all time, made it 3-for-3 for Croatia, while Pedro did what he needed to do by converting. In the fourth round of penalties, Oršić put Croatia on the verge of advancing — Alisson guessed correctly but could not get to it. Marquinhos stepped up for the Brazilians, and while Livaković went the wrong way, the PSG defender hit the post.

With the win, Croatia will wait to see if they’ll have a semifinal matchup with the Netherlands or Argentina. Those two teams are slated to play on Friday at 2 p.m. ET on Fox.