Being only two matches away from glory, hopes are high all over England. The term ´football is coming home´is being thrown around on the daily, although the expression probably started out somewhat as a joke. The semi-final against Croatia will be played tomorrow, June 11th, on the Luzhniki Stadiu, in Moscow. If the Three Lions can do it again, only France or Belgium stands between them and the World Cup title of 2018!
It’s been quite a while since the last time England made it this far in a World Cup tournament. The last time England made it to a semi-final was in 1990, and at that time Croatia were yet to gain independence. So it is two rather inexperienced teams that are about to face each other for a place in this year’s World Cup final.
Croatia has earned their place in the semi-finals by winning Group D ahead of Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland with a clean record of nine points. They then went ahead and knocked out both Denmark and Russia after penalties in the round of 16 and quarter-finals. So although their way through the play-offs hasn’t been too easy this far, they have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with when it comes to penalty shootouts.
England goes in with confidence
One of England’s big advantages in this semi-final is that they can go in with great confidence. The Three Lions defeated Sweden in the quarter-final 2-09, and Sweden has proven to be a tough team to beat. Croatia, on the other hand, have had a bit more of a hard time in the matches following their group victory. Since both of their play-off matches so far has gone to overtime and penalties, their confidence might not be on top.
However, that doesn’t mean that this semi-final will be a walk in the park for England. Croatia has proven that they can beat some of the top nations in football, and they do have two of the best midfielders in the world on their team. Both Modric and Rakitic has been good so far in the tournament, and it’s up to England to make sure that the two won’t get to keep the ball for too long.
Prediction and bet tips – Croatia vs England
There’s no way of knowing how this football match will play out, but we believe that beating Croatia will be England’s biggest challenge yet in this tournament. England’s players, who didn’t have to play extra time in their last match, will hopefully have more energy left in them than Croatia’s. The English team also have a will of stone, and we believe that will take them all the way to the final. Our prediction is that England wins at full time – and we place our bet at Unibet to the odds of 27/20.
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Skriven den 10 July, 2018