World Cup 2022 

Semi Final-1: ARG vs CRO

Preview:

Argentina and Croatia will meet this Wednesday in the first semifinal of the Qatar 2022 World Cup at 12:30 AM IST. The match will be played at the Lusail Stadium and the referee will be the Italian Daniele Orsato. Argentines and Croats have already played two World Cup matches: the first was in France in 1998, on the third date of the group stage and with both teams classified, Argentina won 1-0 with a goal from Mauricio Pineda. The second is more recent, in Russia 2018, Croatia won 3-0 on the second day and forced Sampaoli's team to play their qualification against Nigeria on the last date.

This third clash between Argentina and Croatia will be the first in the knockout rounds of the World Cup, where both teams have winning streaks and records. Argentina will be looking to reach the World Cup final for the sixth time, a mark second only to Germany (8). They have never been eliminated in the semifinals. Their last antecedent in this stage was the elimination by the Netherlands, in the semifinals of Brazil 2014.

Croatia lost the final at Russia in 2018 and could become the fourth European nation to reach consecutive World Cup finals after Italy (1934, 1938), the Netherlands (1974, 1978) and Germany (1982, 1986, 1990). Furthermore, the Croatians could become the second team to beat Brazil and Argentina in the knockout rounds of the same World Cup since Germany did so in 2014.

Croatia has won all four of its World Cup penalty shootouts, including the series with Japan and Brazil to reach the Qatar 2022 semifinals. The only nation that has won more penalty shootouts in World Cup history is Argentina, with five.

On the other side, if Lionel Messi plays against Croatia, he will equal Lothar Matthäus as the player with the most caps in World Cup history (25). In addition, he is already Argentina's top scorer in the competition (10, the same as Gabriel Batistuta) and is one assist away from equaling Diego Maradona's overall record of eight goal passes in World Cups.

Match Details

Match: Semi Final-1: ARG vs CRO  

Date: 14 December 2022

Time: 12:30 AM  

Venue: Lusail Stadium

Key Players 

ARG: Lionel Messi is having a very outstanding World Cup. Despite the doubts generated by his physical condition, the "flea" has shown that, at 35, he is willing to shoulder the responsibility of being the leader of the Argentine team. With his 4 goals and 2 assists, the man from Rosario has become the key man for the Albiceleste and is showing great character, not only to guide his teammates on the field but also to connect with the most excited Pampas fans. than ever with one more final for his team.

CRO: Luka Modric has shown, once again, that quality has nothing to do with age. The 37-year-old midfielder has been the common thread of the Balkan team and, in this World Cup, they have played at the pace he wanted. The success of the Croatian team passes through the feet of the ladrense, who in Qatar 2022 comes for his revenge because despite having been distinguished by WC with the golden ball in Russia 2018, he still has the thorn in him of not having been able to lift the trophy four years ago.

Possible Starting XIs

ARG: Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister; Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi.

CRO: Dominik Livakovic: Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Josko Gvardiol, Borna Sosa; Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic; Andrej Kramaric, Mario Pasalic, Ivan Perisic

Match Prediction

Another enthralling awaits as another WC knockout game for Modric's men, another period of extra time? Strap in. Dalic's defenders have performed their hearts out in WC 2022 so far, and Argentina did not do an exemplary job of breaking down the Dutch before the individual brilliance of Messi shone through.

Knowing how dangerous the Croatian team would be from 12 yards, Argentina's coach should call upon his enviable wealth of attacking options to try to put the game to bed in normal time, but it may take 120 minutes for La Albiceleste to deny the Checkered Ones another final appearance and set up a tantalising contest with Morocco or France. We say ARG 2-1 CRO.

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