19:41
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić is in the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row and is looking forward to an entertaining game. “Both teams show a lot of emotions and it’s fantastic how the Argentina fans create atmosphere. Emotions and passion are some of the most beautiful things in football,” said the 56-year-old, who gave the Argentinians the role of favourites. “Argentina are under more pressure than us. They have a balanced team, are compact and Messi is in good shape again.”
19:36
The Argentines still count on the support of their fans today. The supporters of the Albiceleste had always created a sensational atmosphere. “We play for Argentina, for the families, for all our people. We are so grateful to the Argentine fans for trying so hard,” said Lionel Scaloni ahead of the game. The coach has great respect for the opponent. “Croatia have a lot of excellent players and have already caused problems for many other teams,” said Scaloni, but also made it clear: “We know their strengths and weaknesses.”
19:30
A look at the line-ups: Argentina’s coach Scaloni makes a perforce change to his starting line-up, bringing in Nicolás Tagliafico from left back for the suspended Marcos Acuña. Gonzalo Montiel is also not in the squad today after two yellow cards. Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić, on the other hand, has the entire squad available and is making no changes compared to the quarter-finals. With Joško Gvardiol (Leipzig), Borna Sosa (Stuttgart) and Andrej Kramarić (Hoffenheim), three current Bundesliga players are in the first eleven.
19:21
Croatia, on the other hand, has so far presented itself as extremely minimalist. The Eastern Europeans are in the semi-finals despite winning just one of their five World Cup games in regular time. A 4-1 win over Canada was enough to get through the group, alongside clean sheets against Morocco and Belgium. In the round of 16 against Japan, penalties followed, as did the quarter-finals against Brazil. Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic became a hero twice.
19:15
The South Americans also led 2-0 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, but they were no longer sovereign. First, Lionel Scaloni’s team trembled to a 2-1 draw against underdog Australia, then in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands they lost their two-goal lead completely and had to go to penalties. There keeper Emiliano Martinez became a hero and led his team into the last four.
19:10
The Argentinians had started the tournament badly with a surprising defeat against Saudi Arabia. There was again heavy criticism of the team and Lionel Messi, who once again did not appear too glamorously in the national jersey. But the superstar pulled himself together and then led his team to two comfortable 2-0 victories against Mexico and Poland to still clinch group victory.
19:02
After three and a half weeks, four teams are left at the first Winter World Cup in history. Before defending champions France and the sensational team from Morocco determine the second finalist tomorrow, two teams that have each made it to the final once are facing each other. Argentina lost to Germany in the 2014 final and Croatia four years later to France. Who secures the next chance to reach for the crown today?
19:00
Hello and welcome to the first semi-final of the 2022 World Cup! At 8 p.m., teams from Argentina and Croatia will face off at Lusail’s Iconic Stadium.