Argentina and Croatia square off in the first semifinal of the Qatar World Cup on Wednesday at the Lusail Stadium, Argentina will be looking to get revenge for the 3-0 loss it suffered at the hands of Croatia in 2018.
Both teams advanced to the round of four by suffering gruelling shootout victories in various ways.
Croatia had to rely on a late equaliser against Brazil in extra time to trigger the shootout while Argentina squandered a two-goal advantage against the Netherlands in regulation time.
At Lusail, the two maestros will square off against one another perhaps for the final time on a global stage. Lionel Messi and Luka Modric will be the centre of attention.
With five meetings between the two teams, their head-to-head record is even, with each team winning twice and one match ending in a draw.
1994 was the first-ever meeting during an international friendly. Additionally, it is the only contest between the two that finished in a draw.
Since then, Argentina and Croatia have faced off against one another in two international friendly (2006 and 2014), with each team coming out on top.
Argentina and Croatia have split the two games they have played against each other on the largest stage, winning one each, therefore the tie-breaker situation persists here as well.
The South American team defeated them in the group stage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 1-0, on the strength of a goal from Mauricio Pineda.
But in their first-ever World Cup debut, Croatia came back to finish the competition in third place.
Then, in the 2018 edition, Argentina and Croatia squared off. The Europeans took advantage of their opponents’ defensive mistakes en route to a convincing 3-0 victory. As the Croatians advanced, Ante Rebic, Luka Modric, and Ivan Rakitic found the net.
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