Argentina, Croatia clash today for spot in World Cup final
Mushtaq A Subhani
Argentina and Croatia will clash in the first semi-finals today (December 13) at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, for the spot of final in the FIFA World Cup – 2022, while defending champions France will face Morocco in the second semifinals to be played on Wednesday, December 14.
These four teams out of 32 came out to play the semis in the mega event of of football, being staged in Qatar, who is the first Arab Muslim country to host the tournament.
France and Argentina are the two-time winners of the World Cup while Croatia are the runners up of the last World Cup, held in 2018 in Russia. Morocco are the first Arab/African nation to play the semis in the history of the World Cup.
The first semi-final will end the World Cup ambitions of one of the two legends of the modern game of football — the 35-year-old Lionel Messi, looking to win the title for the first time in his long career and deliver a third World Cup for Argentina, and the 37-year-old Luka Modric, seeking a first international title for Croatia in his last tournament with the national side.
Argentina have recovered from the shock of losing their opening game to Saudi Arabia and made the last four with an exhausting win on penalties against The Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
On the other hand, Croatia have beaten Japan and Brazil on penalties to qualify for the semis. Brazil were the hot favourites in the tournament with four titles.
