The FIFA World Cup semifinals kick off on Tuesday and Argentina and Croatia have the honor of starting the action. A tight game is expected between two defensively solid teams.
Five of the last six Croatia games in the World Cup knockout stages have ended after regulation time and bookmaker William Hill has the odds at 3.25 for the action to once again resume after 90 minutes on Tuesday. The odds are at 1.91 for Argentina to win in regular time and at 4.33 for Croatia to triumph in 90 minutes.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 12th, 8:30 A.M. (EST)
The teams clash for a second consecutive World Cup but the game should be completely different this time around. Croatia earned a huge 3-0 victory over Argentina in the group stage four years ago and it’s highly unlikely that there’s going to be a repeat of that result. Across all the previous five meetings between the two, the results are even with both sides winning twice.
Croatia are the underdogs on Tuesday but it’s a role that suits them nicely. The team has a great defensive record, and with world-class talents like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic in the side, they know that there will be at least one opportunity to score in the game, and often it’s enough to get the desired result. In the quarterfinals against Brazil, Croatia recorded only one shot on target but it resulted in an equalizing goal, which helped them to get through to the penalty shootout where they took down the five-time world champions.
In normal time, Croatia have given up just two goals in the tournament and that should fill the team with confidence, even if they face a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi has been in great form in Qatar and has also come up big when it really matters – three of his six goal involvements have come in the knockout stages. Prior to this year’s tournament, Messi hadn’t yet scored a single time in the knockout stages, but he now boasts two goals and one assist from the first two games and will be hungry for more Tuesday.
Across the whole tournament, Messi has registered four goals and two assists. Argentina are almost guaranteed at least one goal with the PSG star on the pitch as Messi has averaged a goal involvement every 80 minutes at the World Cup. The Croatia defense will clearly be getting its biggest challenge yet and staying in contention for the World Cup trophy will require a mammoth of an effort from the team.
