Croatia vs England: Can the Three Lions go one step further?
England and Croatia will battle for the chance to feature in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final at the Stadion Luzhniki on Wednesday evening.
The winner of this all-European contest will face France, who beat Belgium 1-0 on Tuesday, whilst the loser will have to face the Red Devils in Saturday’s consolation match.
Arguably, no one really expected either England or Croatia to really get this far when the tournament kicked off last month. However, both sides have really exceeded expectations, and there’s an air of optimism, especially with Three Lions supporters, who have had to wait 52 years for the trophy to come back home. Meanwhile, Croatia is into its first semi-final since 1998, when the small Balkan nation shocked everyone by finishing third in France.
Gareth Southgate’s side, however, will be certainly fancying their chances here. For starters, England enjoys the better head to head record, with four wins versus Croatia’s two. This will be the eighth meeting between the two sides, and curiously enough, the seventh that will take place on a Wednesday. However, this is only the second time the two teams will face off in a competitive match. The first? EURO 2004, where England beat Croatia 4-2.
In addition, Croatia had to get here through two 120-minute games, plus a penalty shoot-out against Denmark and Russia. England, by contrast, only had to take part in one penalty shootout against Colombia and won inside 90 minutes against a Swedish side who parked the bus. Fatigue thus could be a major factor as both first-choice goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and Sime Vrsaljko are major injury doubts for this game. England, on the other hand, has pretty much a full-strength squad available for selection.
Meanwhile, it’s set to be an interesting battle between the two skippers. Although Harry Kane and Luka Modric don’t play the same position, the duo are the heartbeat of their respective sides. Both have netted the most goals, and have shown nerves of steel from the penalty spot. Modric has scored three out of his four spot-kicks whilst Kane has been absolutely perfect from the spot, with four so far to his name. In addition, the Tottenham star is looking like a sure bet to win the Golden Shoe, but will he add a World Cup winners’ medal with that? The next two games will ultimately decide that, or if Modric, who some are trumpeting as an outside shot for the Ballon d’Or, will play a big role in Croatia winning its first major title.
