Argentina and Croatia are through to the semifinal of the 2022 World Cup, but which team will get further to the final? Will it be the current favorite to win the title or the team that finished second four years ago?
Argentina vs Croatia Odds
Match-Winner
| Argentina | -120 |
| Draw | +225 |
| Croatia | +425 |
Goals Over/Under
| Over 2.5 | +163 |
| Under 2.5 | -200 |
*Odds taken from bet365 on Saturday, December 10.
When, Where, and How to Watch?
- Place: Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar
- Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2022
- Time: 2:00 PM ET
- How to Watch: FOX/Telemundo
It’s All About Lionel Messi
Let’s imagine Lionel Messi wasn’t an Argentinean – La Albiceleste would be nothing but a mediocre team without him.
But the Messiah is their captain and he’s been superb since coming to Qatar. He’s the man who practically led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup semifinal.
He’s been their best player in every single match of the tournament, including the quarterfinal one against the Netherlands. Played on Friday afternoon, the game saw Messi make a wonderful pass to Nahuel Molina to make it 1-0 Argentina.
Messi was the one to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the second half, but then his teammates (especially those from the defensive line) got outsmarted by the Dutch, who scored two goals near the end of the normal time. The game went to extra time where we saw no additional goals.
As a result, the winner had to be decided by a penalty lottery. Argentina won, mostly thanks to bad penalty shots by the Dutch players. The Netherlands goalie too didn’t do very well, failing to spot even a single shot – the only miss by Argentina was when Enzo Fernandez missed the entire goal.
Croatia are Penalty Experts
Even though Argentina did win on penalties against the Dutch, no one can say they impressed during the shootout. That could be a problem if they get to have penalties against Croatia. Why? Because the Checkered ones are true experts when it comes to this.
They’re coming to the semifinals after two straight wins on penalties. First, they defeated Japan 1-1 in regular time. Then – in the quarterfinal stage – they beat Brazil 0-0 in 120 minutes of play.
We expect Croatia to play cautiously once again. If they can take the game to extra time and later to penalties, they’ll be the ones in the role of the favorite. But can they sustain Argentina’s attacks for two hours?
Argentina vs Croatia Prediction
Croatia finished second in the 2018 World Cup, which came as a sort of surprise to many soccer fans. Four years later, they’re showing their performances in Russia weren’t a glitch. They’re playing great soccer in Qatar, which might not be fun to watch (for neutrals) but which is very efficient.
This team is very well organized, especially when it comes to defending. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to tame the mighty Messi. Plus, Croatia has a fantastic goalie between the sticks. The man in question is Dominic Livakovic who’s established himself as a real penalty-stopping genius.
Pick: Croatia to advance to the 2022 World Cup final.