After two back-to-back nail-biting penalty shoot-outs, Croatia and Argentina punched their tickets to the semi-finals of the FIFA
World Cup 2022 on Friday night in Qatar and will face each other on Tuesday
night in a bid to become the first team to enter the finals of the current cup.
Also read: 2022 FIFA World Cup Argentina vs Croatia semifinal: 5 things to watch out for
Croatia were lucky to get an equaliser just before the
end of extra time and won in the penalties against Brazil while Argentina did the exact opposite against the Dutch, had a 2-0 lead, botched it up, took the game to extra time and
eventually won in the penalties.
Also read: Why Marcos Acuna will miss semifinal vs Croatia if Argentina beat Netherlands
Argentina vs Croatia: Head to head stats
· In a rivalry extending over 28 years, Argentina
and Croatia have faced off in five matches thus far, with both sides winning
two matches and one being a draw
· The two sides met for the first time in 1994 in
an international friendly that ended in a goalless draw
· The two sides have played twice in World Cups
with Argentina winning the first and Croatia striking back in 2018
· The Croats won the most recent encounter between
the two, comprehensively beating Argentina 3-0 in the group stages of the 2018
World Cup
Also read: Who is Ivana Knoll?
Other statistics:
· As per the FIFA rankings of October 6, Argentina
are ranked third in the World while Croatia are seen at the 12th
position
· While the match scores are tied, Croatia has
scored seven goals as opposed to Argentina’s five in the five encounters
· Two of Croatia’s three scorers against Argentina
from 2018, namely Luka Modrić and Ivan Rakitić
are Croatia’s mainstays four years later too and are likely to play against
Argentina
Also read: FIFA World Cup 2022: Lionel Messi’s ball-carrying stats at 35 show why he is the GOAT
Predicted line ups
Argentina’s
predicted line up:
Lionel Messi
(c), E. Martinez (GK) Romero, Otamendi,
L. Martinez , Molina, Mac Allister, De Paul, E. Fernandez, Nicolás Tagliafico , Alvarez,
Croatia’s
predicted line up:
Modric (c), Livakovic;
Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Perisic,
Kramaric
Expected formations:
Argentina’s expected formation:
5-3-2
Croatia’s expected formation:
4-3-3
