FIFA World Cup 2018: Each Quarter-Finalist's Major Weakness

Croatia: Inefficient Crossing

Truth be told, it is very difficult to find any weaknesses in the Croatian side. With Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, they arguably have one of the best midfields in the tournament. At striker, they have a great (though slightly past his prime) striker in Mario Mandzukic. They have solid wingers in Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic. On paper, it appears that their defence is the weak-link: Ivan Strinic, Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida do not exactly inspire fear in opposing attacks. In reality however, their defense has been excellent as they have only conceded two goals in the tournament- Denmark’s scruffy opener and a consolation penalty by Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Instead, their most important weakness is a tactical one, spotted by The Ringer’s Ryan O’Hanlon who argued on a Ringer FC podcast that Croatia cross the ball too much considering their midfield talent. Statistics back up O’Hanlon’s assertion- Croatia average the second most crosses per game of any quarterfinalist but have only scored two goals as a result of one. Even more worryingly, only 25% of their crosses have been accurate- again second worst among the quarterfinalists.

Instead of attempting so many inefficient crosses, Croatia should be trying to operate through their world-class midfield. They only average one through ball per game, ridiculous considering the talents of Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric. If Croatia are to become the ninth team to win the World Cup, then that will have to change.