Argentina and Croatia both needed to win on penalty shoot-outs in order to secure their semi-final spots in the Fifa World Cup. They clash at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, in an encounter promising to go the distance again and deliver some much-anticipated football action.
To Win Match
Argentina 17/20 | Draw 47/20 | Croatia 37/10
To Qualify
Argentina 1/3 | Croatia 24/10
Lionel Messi has scored four goals so far at the 2022 Fifa World Cup and will undoubtably be Argentina’s main attacking threat. In his fifth and last World Cup, the 35-year-old is aiming to win the tournament for a first time.
He has also created 16 chances from five matches in the competition, second-most of any player behind only Antoine Griezmann’s 17. Nobody else in the entire tournament field has more than 11, and nobody on Croatia has more than five.
However, they will be without full-backs Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel who are both suspended, meaning Nicolas Tagliafico should come in on the left while Nahuel Molina will continue on the right.
The fitness of Angel Di Maria will be the biggest question ahead of this match for Argentina. The 34-year-old winger was utilized only as a late punt at the death against the Netherlands as he looked to recover from a muscle issue suffered at the end of the Round of 16 game against Australia.
Much like Argentina, The Croatians had to endure a draining quarter finals clash which ended in penalties after a late equalizer against Brazil and extended their 100% record to five successive shootouts.
And like they did in Russia, the Vatreni have taken the long road to get to the semi-finals, winning penalty shoot-outs in each of the round of 16 and quarterfinal stages.
Head coach Dalic has no suspension or injuries to worry about. Left-back Borna Sosa returned for the win over Brazil while striker Bruno Petkovic is pushing for a start after scoring the late extra-time equaliser in the quarter-final.
But with so much football under their belts in such a short period of time, there are concerns that some of Croatia’s older players — notably stars Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic — will not have had enough time to recover ahead of a high-intensity match against the reigning Copa America champions.
Regardless, both teams enter the match with the knowledge that a victory on Tuesday puts them one step away from the World Cup trophy. That’s motivation enough to play through tired legs.
Verdict: Argentina (17/20)
Argentina have demonstrated an incredible sense of unity and it is clearly evident that the team is playing to see Messi bag his last international crown before exiting the stage. On the other hand, Croatia continues to prove those who doubted their prowess in the 2022 World Cup. This clash will go down to the wire but expect Argentina to bag the win and move a step closer to lifting the global trophy in Qatar.
