In the final in Russia four years ago, Zlatko Dalic’s squad was defeated by France, who will face Morocco in the other semi-final in Qatar.
Croatia advanced to the semi-finals for the third time in their history despite not being considered one of the favorites to win in Qatar, defeating Brazil on penalties.
Now that they meet Argentina, Croatia has a chance to eliminate both South American heavyweights from the World Cup, becoming the first side to accomplish so since Germany in 2014.
Borna Sosa played a crucial role in Croatia’s victory over Brazil by keeping Premier League players Raphinha and Antony quiet on the left side of the field. The full-back is certain that his team can win the match.
“Sure, that. Everything is now feasible, he claimed. “As we demonstrated, we are highly dangerous. Everyone will likely believe that we have won a lot of penalties if they come up.
We finished second in the most recent World Cup. With a fresh squad made up of athletes between the ages of 17 and 18, we are demonstrating the high caliber of our national team.
“We barely have four million individuals, but we’ve been producing excellent outcomes for years. I’m proud of my country as a whole for this reason.
The Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic has excelled as a deep-lying playmaker for Croatia, and he could be essential to halting Messi.
Only teammate Luka Modric (105) attempted more passes than Brozovic’s (96) in the quarterfinal victory over Brazil.
Brozovic could just be able to restrict Messi’s influence if he can cooperate with Modric and Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic to shut off the middle area and drive Argentina wide.
However, extra time has been used in eight of Croatia’s last nine World Cup knockout games, so don’t be shocked if this game goes over 90 or even 120 minutes.
While Argentina had already defeated Mexico and the Netherlands in this stadium, they did suffer one of the biggest World Cup upsets ever when they lost to Saudi Arabia in their opening group game. This will be Croatia’s first World Cup 2022 game there.
