Malta vs. Croatia 11/11/21 UEFA World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Malta is welcoming Croatia to Ta’Qali National Stadium in Group H of the World Cup Qualifications. Malta is one of the weakest teams in Europe, they have never played a major tournament, and they never will. Croatia has done a solid job in these qualifications, but they are in 2^nd place, and they might need to go through the additional qualification.

As I’ve mentioned, Malta is one of the weakest teams in Europe, but they were still able to score 8 goals in these qualifications. Defensively, Malta is the weakest team in this group with 17 conceded goals. Mbong and Attard are the leading goalscorers for Malta with 2 goals each. Malta hasn’t won any of their last 4 games, while they lost 3 of those 4 games. There isn’t much to say about Malta, but they have come a long way since they had bakers, postal workers, and accountants playing for their national team, but they also have a really, really, long way to go.

Overall, Croatia is the best team in this group with 13 scored goals, and 3 conceded goals, but they are not at the top of this group right now, Russia is. Croatia is playing against Russia in the last round, and that will be the game that will decide the winner of this group. In their last game, Croatia was playing against Slovakia, and that is when they lost the top spot. With 68% of ball possession, 10 shots on goal, 10 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 87% of the correct passes. Croatia was losing twice in this game, but they kept coming back, and they even had a few great chances to take over the lead. The final score of this game was 2-2. Petkovic is back in the roster for Croatia, and that is a good thing because they will need all the offensive power they can muster. Modric is healthy, and he will lead this team once again. The biggest problem for Croatia is Kovacic is missing, but there is a lot of depth to this team. Modric, Perisic, Livaja, and Pasalic are the leading goalscorers for Croatia with 2 goals. Perisic has also added 2 assists. With 2 wins in their last 2 games, Croatia would take over the top, and that would save them going through the additional qualifications, and I think they are capable of doing that.

Croatia must win this game, and there is no other way for them to take over the top. Malta is a weak team, they are a bad defensive team, and they don’t stand a chance here.