Gary Lineker leads shocked pundits and fans after Brazil’s surprise World Cup elimination to Croatia

Gary Lineker and Louis Theroux are among those sharing their shock at Brazil’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup after the penalty shootout drama against Croatia.

The 2018 finalists seemed to be heading home after Neymar’s extra-time goal, but Bruno Petkovic scored for Croatia in the 116th minute to take the game to penalties.

Brazil’s fate was sealed by a poor penalty shootout that saw Rodrygo’s opening penalty cancelled, and then ended when Marquinhos hit a crucial penalty off the post that would have kept the South American favorites in the game.

Marquinhos was devastated to see his vital shot hit the post, eliminating Brazil

BBC presenter Lineker tweeted: ‘Wow! Just wow! Brazil is out. Croatia is so, so tough.

The European team converted all four of their penalties to set up a second consecutive World Cup semi-final, this time against Argentina.

Gary Lineker and Louis Theroux were among those surprised by Brazil’s elimination on Friday

Others held the view shared by many that the elimination of Brazil from the 2022 edition was the continuation of a trend of surprising results that was taking place in Qatar.

Host and interviewer Theroux said: ‘WHAT JUST HAPPENED???’, while Piers Morgan simply tweeted ‘OMG!’

Piers Morgan referenced the dance in Brazil when they found themselves taking quick steps towards the exit.

Morgan also added ‘The Day the Dancing Died’, in reference to their wild celebrations when they defeated South Korea in their Round of 16 match on Monday.

While Saudi Arabia’s group stage win over Argentina and Japan’s early victory over Germany were seen as surprises, for some they will be nothing compared to Brazil’s quarter-final elimination at the hands of Luka Modric’s team.

Manager Tite and Tottenham player Richarlison were among those devastated after the match.

Speaking afterwards, Alex Scott told the BBC: “This is a World Cup that keeps throwing up surprises.”

In the BBC post-match, pundit Alex Scott joined in on this speech. She said: ‘It’s absolutely incredible, the experience of this team with Modric, surrounded by all the other players. It is a complete team effort. They can handle the pressure.

‘Brazil were my favorites, they were the favorites of many people. This is a World Cup that continues to surprise.’

A couple of days before the exhibition game with Croatia, a Brazilian press officer caused a stir by pulling out a cat that was sitting on the bench at his press conference.

American sports writer Andrew Schnittker said on Twitter: ‘Brazil deserved to lose for this. The cat gets justice’, as he shares a clip of the incident.

American writer Andrew Schnittker said ‘Brazil deserved to lose’ after media cat incident