Darius1998

Modric off for the last time at a World Cup.

Yeah, quite easily. Which makes it more special.

Playing around with the best defender at the tournament now.

Not a fan of Argentina switching to a back 3 again. They have usually looked worse with that.

Tbh, this is like a train hitting your car. Just because you went forward but stopped on the tracks doesn't mean the train isn't going to hit you.

Looks like Alvarez gained a fan.

Argentina blew a 2 goal lead in the last game. Croatia haven't taken the lead in about 10 World Cup games at this point. I don't think this is necessarily over.

Two clearances fluffed in a row.

Alvarez!

Does feel a little unlucky. I'm still leaning about 60:40 towards a penalty.

Is Sutalo good enough to take over? I really can't see how Lovren is still first choice.

That's a pen.

37 years old and Modric still plays like this.

Kovacic is so good at carrying the ball.

'Land of Diego and Lionel' getting an early runout.

Because the official one is too slow.

The Argentine FA finally have theirs up:

Preview The stage is set as Argentina take on Croatia tonight in our first semi-final. Argentina come into this after winning on penalties against the Netherlands having previously thrown away a 2-0 lead. That game also featured 8 yellow cards for the South Americans and resulted in the suspension of fullbacks Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña. Croatia come into this having prevailed on penalties in both of their knockout round ties, knocking out Japan and Brazil in the process. It is almost certainly the last World Cup for two of the best players of their generation in the form of Lionel Messi and Luka Modric. Semi-final history Argentina have an impeccable record at this stage of a World Cup and have 4 wins from 4 appearances (1930, 1986, 1990 and 2014). (*1978 had a second group phase) Croatia are in the semis for 3rd time in 6 World Cup appearances since regaining independence from Yugoslavia. They lost at this stage in 1998 but won in Russia last time out. Past meetings They have faced each other 5 times, with both teams winning twice each and their first ever game in 1994 ending in a draw. They have played each other twice at a World Cup - Argentina won 1-0 in 1998 while Croatia smashed their opponents 3-0 in 2018. Most recent semi-finals

Shouldn't Africa get one before Europe? Russia had it in 2018.

Semi-finals Tuesday 13th December Argentina 2-1 Croatia 19.00 Wednesday 14th December France 2-0 Morocco 19.00 Bonuses The total number of goals across all the games - 5 The total number of goals scored in the first half - 1 The total number of goals scored in the second half - 4 The total number of goals scored after 90 minutes - 4 The total number of hattricks - 0 The number of games going to extra time - 1 The number of games going to penalties - 0 The total number of penalties scored (including those in normal game play) - 2 The team which scores the fastest goal - France The team which scores the last goal - Argentina The time of the first goal - 34th minute The time of the last goal - 114th minute The scorer of the first goal - Kylian Mbappe The scorer of the last goal - Lionel Messi The total number of yellow cards - 10 The total number of red cards - 0 The total number of substitutions across all games - 17

Shouldn't I be lower in the table? 169 + 85 = 254. Or did I get 100 points for the number of goals thing? Because I actually predicted 10 goals across the games but wrote it as 9 in the bonuses.

Went with Argentina at the start and I'm sticking with them for now, even if they haven't exactly impressed. Not just Messi, I want them to win for their fans as well. 36 years without a World Cup and they make every stadium look as if it was situated in Buenos Aires or Rosario. Failing that, I would prefer Croatia and then Morocco. France are the best team left but they won last time and I've already written a few times what I think of Deschamps' tactics.

Well, Giroud is a textbook example of someone who has made the most of his talent. Never been the star player but he's always there when he is needed.

Pretty good game to follow overall, even taking into account France being overly defensive. Sets up a couple of interesting semis on paper.

So does Maguire and he got a deflection on the winner...