What to know about the Argentina-Croatia semifinal
Argentina and Croatia will meet Tuesday with the winner moving on to the World Cup final and the loser going to the third-place game. Coverage of the match begins on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.
It is one of the biggest matches of the World Cup so far. Argentina came into the tournament as the No. 3 team in the last FIFA men’s rankings before play started, while Croatia was No. 12. Both squads have played some very competitive matches to get to this point.
Argentina defeated the Netherlands in a hotly contested matchup that ended in penalties. The team defeated Australia in the Round of 16 and beat Poland and Mexico in their Group C matches, but somehow upset by Saudi Arabia. Regardless, Argentina is playing to appear in their first World Cup final since 2014.
Croatia was the runner-up in Group F to Morocco, who also somehow made it to the other semifinals. Croatia defeated Canada in their group matches and drew with Morocco and Belgium. They beat Japan and upset Brazil in penalties and now have a chance to make it to their second consecutive World Cup final. Croatia lost to France in the 2018 tournament in Russia.
What to know about the Argentina-Croatia semifinal
The match will played at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar. It the same venue Argentina defeated the Netherlands in last week.
Here’s what else you need to know about the match.
The semifinal match between Argentina and Croatia can seen on FOX. The coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET with the match starting at 2 p.m. ET. Fans can also tune in here for the action.
Who are Argentina’s players to know?
Lionel Messi is still the one who is going to pack the punch in the end. The Croatian defense needs to be aware of where he is at all times and make sure they leave none of his teammates unmarked. Messi had a penalty goal in the win over the Dutch while Nahuel Molina scored in the 35th minute.
Bruno Petkovic tied their match against Brazil in the 117th minute as the Croatia won 4-2 in penalties. While Andrej Kramaric and Luka Modric will still need to marked, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic will the big key for the squad against Argentina.