Account
World Cup Predictions 2018: Odds for Sunday's Round-of-16 Matches
July 1, 2018
Croatia and Denmark will hope to advance to the quarter-finals in place of the other at the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Sunday when they meet at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
They will come together after 2010 World Cup winners Spain face off against hosts Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Here are score predictions for the matches, as well as the latest odds, according to OddsShark:
- Spain (16-25), Draw (11-4), Russia (22-5): 3-1
- Croatia (43-50), Draw (9-4), Denmark (7-2): 2-0
Croatia have been highly impressive at the World Cup, scoring seven goals and conceding just once—from the penalty spot—against Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland.
Writer and broadcaster Deji Faremi felt they were the best team of the group stage:
Per BT Sport's Ian Darke, the omens are in their favour:
At the very least, they will hope to emulate the Croatia side of 1998, who finished third at the World Cup in France.
With the world-class talent of Luka Modric in midfield, along with some other strong players such as Ivan Rakitic, Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Perisic, they have the quality to go far in the competition.
Standing in their way of a quarter-final berth are Denmark, who edged out Peru 1-0 before picking up draws with Australia and France.
The Danes weren't overly impressive across their three group-stage matches, but playmaker Christian Eriksen has shown his importance to the side.
After slipping in Yussuf Poulsen for the decisive goal against Peru, he scored a fine effort against the Socceroos:
The midfielder has been in fine form for Denmark for quite some time:
Denmark's chances largely rest on his shoulders, but Croatia will be well aware of his importance to the team and will look to nullify his effectiveness as they did with Lionel Messi against Argentina.
Meanwhile, their stronger spread of talented, in-form players throughout the team should see them take this.