Sure, because Brazil has a way higher 'peak' than Croatia. As in, if Brazil really gets going, they can utterly destroy everyone, just like France. Croatia doesn't have that 'peak', but a team doesn't need to have that to be a big danger.
And come on, boring, not boring, whatever. If you reach the World Cup final, and the next time you're in the semi's after kicking Brazil out, you are very well capable of kicking Argentina and the Netherlands out as well, no question about it.