Croatia vs Belgium: Betting preview, best bets & predictions

Croatia vs Belgium

We’re getting into crunch time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup group stage and the second-ranked Belgium side could be facing an early elimination if they cannot get a result against Croatia. A daw would not be good enough if Morocco can pull a point out of their matchup with Canada, making this a must-win tie for Belgium.

How to watch Croatia vs Belgium

When: Croatia vs Belgium, Thursday December 1st, 2022
Where: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Qatar
Kickoff: 10AM EST, 3PM GMT
How to watch: BBC 1 (or BBC iPlayer) (UK) Fox, Telemundo (US)

Croatia vs Belgium betting odds

Moneyline: Croatia +170 | Draw +230 | Belgium +170

Croatia vs Belgium betting preview

We learned a lot about Croatia in their 2-1 win over Canada. Despite suffering an early 1-0 deficit, the checkered ones rallied back to an impressive 2-1 win, showing that they can not only handle adversity but also thrive in it. We all remember how an early England goal nearly cost them dearly in the 2018 World Cup Semi-Finals, but once again, their heart wasn’t to be denied.

As for Belgium, this game could not be any more important. The once-golden generation is rapidly aging and the results just aren’t following what people expected. They’ve lost three of their last four games, with their only win coming against Canada. Even Morocco shelled them into submission.

Croatia has savvy veterans like Luka Modric, sure, but Belgium is a team that’s glistening with elite-level players. The issue is they just can’t seem to find that missing ingredient that will spark cohesion. Croatia is a well-disciplined side that has only allowed one goal up to this point in the competition.

The deciding factor here is that Belgium must win this game while Croatia only needs to draw and can therefore dictate the tempo of the game. Belgium has all the talent in the world to change that, but being able to do it with their World Cup future hanging in the balance will be an almighty task.

Croatia vs Belgium betting pick

I like Croatia here. Both teams are priced identically which is the first time that’s happened in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. I’ll back the more structured team that has proven it can overcome adversity, and the side that has more recent knockout stage-scenario experience.