In the first semi-final of this year's World Cup, Argentina faces Croatia. After both teams advanced to the semi-finals after penalty shootouts, we got a duel between two finalists from the last two World Cups, Argentina lost the final in 2014, while the Croats were defeated in the final in 2018. After narrow victories against Australia and the Netherlands, Argentina will have to raise the bar to overcome Croatia. Although the quality may be very little on the side of the Argentinians, the Croats are not far behind them in that segment and have a highly developed team spirit, which is evident in every match played so far, especially in these elimination matches. Argentina is struggling to look like the untouchable and title-favorite team that was presented before the start of this World Cup. The only match, in my opinion, that they played at an extremely high level was the one against Poland. In all other matches, they had a lot of problems to express their attacking potential. Against the Netherlands, the Argentinians showed more quality, with judicious overflows from Marcos Acuña and a solid defense which easily muzzled a too timid Dutch attack. Lionel Scaloni's men still needed a bright pass from Messi to take the lead in the game, before he made the break by converting a penalty obtained by Acuña. However, the end of the match was even more difficult for the Argentinians who curled up before conceding two goals in the last quarter of an hour. This time, Argentina faces Luka Modric's Croatia for a place in the World Cup final. After having faced more or less affordable opponents, including the too monolithic Netherlands, Lionel Scaloni's men must go to the next level to win their qualification against a formation that no longer knows how to lose. Already in difficulty against Australia and against Holland, nothing yet indicates that this Argentine team has the weapons to overcome the vice-world champions so easily. Faced with the density of the Croatian midfield, the Argentinians will have to be able to exploit the sides with the same success as against the Netherlands. A big disadvantage for their game on the sideline will be the absence of Acun, who had a great offensive role in the match against the Dutch. Of course, Messi will be asked about everything, but I think that Croatia's midfield and defense will not leave him that much space, and another organizer of the game will have to appear in the Argentina team.

Croatia enters this match with a huge amount of self-confidence after they knocked Brazil out of the competition with a fantastic, primarily defensive game. What is highly commendable for this team is that they are not afraid to attack when necessary. We could see that against Brazil when they started attacking with all available means. Despite the fact that they opted for a slightly more defensive approach to the games, we must not forget that Croatia has a very good offensive potential. First of all, they rely on the great Luka Modric, but we must also add Perisic, Kramaric, Pasalic and even the young Lovro Majer, who is certainly the future of Croatian football. Faced with a team with the same mental strength as them, the Croats will have to play a game just as intelligent as against Brazil. To overcome Argentina, Croatia will want to draw inspiration from their last victory against the Argentinian team, when they won 3-0 during the group stages of the 2018 World Cup. The Argentina team has not changed much compared to that match, it can be said that they were even stronger than now with Higuain and Mascherano in the team. Against Brazil, the rotation of the Kovacic-Brozovic-Modric trio in the marking of Neymar had largely neutralized the Brazilian offensive inclinations. My opinion is that Argentina is less creative than the Brazilian attackers, the density of the Croatian block should manage to muzzle the entire Argentine construction. Faced with the quality of movement of the young Julian Alvarez, the Croatian defense will need a Josko Gvardiol in the continuity of his excellent tournament. Perfectly complementary with Dejan Lovren's control tower, the speed and intelligence of the Leipzig defender's game will be crucial in preventing the Argentine striker from finding space in this Croatian block. With a whopping 11 saves against the Seleção, the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper, Livakovic, had been essential in qualifying his team. Faced with offensive threats from Argentina, including long shots from the opposing midfield, he will once again have to be there. Both teams will approach this match with maximum caution and I do not believe that we will have the opportunity to see some attractive football. In a meeting of such magnitude, the score should remain relatively low. Argentina have never scored more than two goals in this World Cup, while, except for their victory against Canada, Croatia have only scored one goal in 4 games. Croats will certainly want to win extra time and penalties and I think it is a good choice to play less than 2.5 goals here.