Lionel Messi will lead Argentina against Croatia, with Luka Modric as captain. Both iconic number 10’s will be hoping to get to the World Cup final
This won’t be the first time Modric and Lionel Messi face each other in the World Cup. In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Croatia and Argentina locked horns with the Europeans winning 3-0 in a group game against their South American opponents. Modric scored.
Croatia’s captain Luka Modric is now 37 years old, whereas Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi is 35 years old. This could be the last time football will witness the Magic number 10s at a World Cup. Both players have been crucial for their sides, scoring in their quarter-final penalty shootout wins.
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According to BBC, Luka Modric is the first player to score three penalties at the World Cup (Denmark and Russia in 2018, and Brazil in 2022)
Argentina Head Coach Lionel Scaloni defended his team after claims of a lack of sportsmanship after a fiery ill-tempered penalty shootout win against the Netherlands in the quarter-final. The game had a World Cup record of 18 yellow cards.
Lionel Scaloni said,
“The previous game was played the way we had to play – for both teams. That’s football,
“In some games things can happen like this. There can be arguments but that’s all. That’s why there’s a referee.
“We need to put an end to this idea of thinking Argentina behave like this. We lost to Saudi Arabia and we didn’t say anything.
“We won the Copa America in Brazil and experienced the most sporting behaviour with [Lionel] Messi, [Leandro] Paredes, Neymar, who were all sitting together in the tunnel in the Maracana [Stadium]. I’m really not convinced of this idea of unsporting behaviour.”
Dominik Livakovic in Croatia’s goal will be looking to give another great performance following the quarter-final win against Brazil. 11 shots, plus one penalty by Rodrygo, saved by Livakovic.
Predicted Team Selection
Argentina: E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister; Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez
Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Gvardiol, Lovren, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic
Predicted Scores
Knowing how dangerous Croatia are in a penalty shootout, Argentina must work within the 90 minutes. However, Argentina struggled against the Netherlands and were frustrated beyond measure, leading to the heated penalty shootout.
Croatia equalized after conceding late in extra time and still beat Brazil in the quarter-final. Talk about grit!
Argentina (2)-(1) Croatia
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