FIFA World Cup
World Cup 2018 Semifinals Fixture, England, Belgium, France And Croatia
The FIFA World Cup 2018 semifinals fixture are set with Belgium vs France on Tuesday and England vs Croatia on Wednesday.
This is the first time since Germany 2006 that we have an all European semifinals fixture. The four finalist have England and France who have won the tournament. However, Croatia and Belgium have never won the tournament thus far. Despite this, both Croatia and Belgium have been in this situation once before.
World Cup 2018 Semifinals Fixture:
France vs Belgium
Tuesday, July 10 – 2:00 PM EST
Venue: Saint Petersburg Stadium
Belgium’s manager Roberto Martinez came to this tournament with a cloud of questions. Mostly, the reasons why he did not bring Inter Milan man Radja Nainggolan and how he did not fit his playing system/style. Seems like his proposal has been successful thus far after winning out their group, while defeating England. Along the way they also successfully came back from behind to beat Japan and then went on to defeat favorite Brazil.
On the other side, France also won out their group and went on to defeating South Americans Argentina and Uruguay in a rather decisive way. With an average age of 26.1, France comes to this matchup against another young team looking for glory. Nevertheless, France is looking to get back to glory after disappointingly losing the final against Portugal in last year’s Euro.
The matchup will likely be anticipated final.
Croatia vs England
Wednesday, July 11, 2:00 PM EST
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium
After winning their second consecutive shootout in this World Cup, Croatia sees themselves one step closer to their championship goal. However, the extra 60 minutes of play those legs have in them will likely play dividends when they face England on Wednesday. It wasn’t easy for the Croats as they faced Russia, and the crowd in Sochi. Perhaps their biggest success came when they crushed Argentina’s hopes in their second group matchup. This is when they convincingly defeated the Gauchos to end up winning the group.
However, England has had a much easier path to this instance. Nevertheless, they defeated each team put in their way. Manager Gareth Southgate has been the key to the success of this young England team. The core of this group is composed by Manchester City and Tottenham. Perhaps their style of play has been rather different as well.
Conclusion:
Making a prediction for these matchups becomes rather difficult. More so because these teams are well-equipped to win the entire tournament. Four very strong teams but Belgium and Croatia will likely end up in the finals.
