Russia, who defeated Spain 4-3 on penalties after the teams were level at 1-1 after extra time on Sunday, will face Croatia in their quarter-final at Sochi's Fisht Stadium on Saturday.

"In the match between Russia and Croatia, success will largely depend on the strength remaining after their tough round of 16 matches and the way the teams have recovered. I'm sure that [Russia head coach Stanislav] Cherchesov wants to play more recklessly than against Spain, to seize the initiative... Croatia are an organized team, many players like expressing themselves individually... If Russia manage to play... aggressively, like they did against Spain, the team will have more chances to succeed, and they'll make it to the World Cup semi-finals," Kowalewski said.