Analysis:Kramaric the bright spot for enigmatic Croatia as Belgium await

DOHA : Croatia leaned heavily on striker Andrej Kramaric as they ended Canada's chances of progressing with a 4-1 win in an enigmatic performance, and a showdown with a similarly stuttering Belgium now awaits with a place in the last 16 at stake.

Needing a draw to progress, Croatian fans will be wondering which side is going to turn up against the Belgians - the sloppy one of the first half hour at the Khalifa Stadium on Sunday, or the one that scored four goals over the last 60 minutes.

Kramaric netted two excellent strikes and had another ruled out for offside as his side finally showed some semblance of their superb technical quality against a game yet limited Canada, but many in the Croatian side still under-performed.

The whole defence was at fault in the opening minutes, caught flat-footed and left in the role of bystanders as Alphonso Davies netted Canada's first goal at a men's World Cup with a booming header.

Even that was not enough to spur Croatia into action, and much of the first half-hour was a repeat of their turgid 0-0 draw with Morocco, blighted by misplaced passes and breakdowns in communication.

The Croatians seemed to have no-one who could match the power and agression of the fired-up Canadians, but Kramaric finally shook them from their slumber on the half-hour mark.

He thought he had pulled his side level with a cool finish that seemed to come out of nowhere, but that effort was ruled out for offside.

JOLTED INTO LIFE

That seemed to jolt the Croatians into life, and for the first time in Qatar they started playing with the kind of purpose that got them to the World Cup final four years ago.

Inevitably it was Kramaric who got the equaliser, and suddenly, the air went out of the Canadian bubble.

Gaps