The second semifinal of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia takes place at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow as Croatia and England square off for the right to meet France in the tournament’s final.
After defeating Belgium 1-0 to reach their third world cup final in history (and first since 2006) the French are considered the favorites to take the trophy home as their odds are at -180. England’s odds are at +200 while Croatia’s are +400.
Although Croatia at times has looked very good during this world cup it will be interesting to see how much they have left in the tank after playing back-to-back games where they needed to resort to penalties to reach this stage.
England, on the other hand, is much more rested after beating Sweden 2-0 in regulation and looked solid while doing it.
So far England’s backfield has looked great, but they will face probably their biggest test of the tournament in this game against Croatia and the likes of Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, and Mario Mandzukic.
Expect the game to be open and with a good amount of scoring chances on both goals giving players such as Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling plenty of opportunity to shine.
With the way this world cup is going for Croatia it would not be surprising to see this game go into extra time and maybe even penalties, but if that happens it won’t be because of a goalless draw.
Although it would be interesting to see keepers Jordan Pickford and Danijel Subasic battling it out in the penalty kicks, as they both have been very successful in this world cup, don’t hold your breath for that to happen as fatigue will most likely catch up with Croatia long before that.
Possible Lineups
Croatia: Danijel Subasic; Vedran Corluka, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic; Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric, Ante Rebic, Andrej Kramaric, Ivan Perisic; Mario Mandzukic
England: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane
Croatia’s Road to the Semifinals
Group Stage
Croatia 2 – 0 Nigeria
Argentina 0 – 3 Croatia
Iceland 1 – 2 Croatia
Round of 16
Croatia 1 – 1 Denmark (3 – 2 PK)
Quarterfinals
Russia 2 – 2 Croatia (4 – 3 PK)
England’s Road to the Semifinals
Group Stage
Tunisia 1 – 2 England
England 6 – 1 Panama
Belgium 1 – 0 England
Round of 16
Colombia 1 – 1 England (3 – 4 PK)
Quarterfinals
Sweden 0 – 2 England
