And is now forecasting a Belgium-England final

Given Croatia had extra time and penalties to recover from, England should come into the game fresher and they also have the edge in previous meetings, winning four of the seven encounters, including a 5-1 victory in their most recent match – a World Cup qualifier in 2009.

Here is a look at the semi-finals and what to watch out for. “They’ve gone to two extra-times, and if you have to go to extra-time against Russian Federation”.

They handed them possession and despite playing four times fewer passes than Spain’s 1,137 over 120 minutes, they successfully shut them out of their box. The victor will face either France or Belgium in the final. Is Paul Pogba going to win a World Cup winners’ medal? Defensively sound while causing one of the best organised sides in the tournament real problems.

“They showed from the games I’ve seen so far that they play direct football and they are very fast”.

“A warning has been issued for such violation as well as for the infringement of the FIFA Equipment Regulations due to the display of a personal message by the player Danijel Subasic after the end of the said match”.

At that point it seemed he would be a lock for England’s World Cup squad but injury put paid to his chances.

The Atlético Madrid defender was withdrawn from Croatia’s quarterfinal tie against Russian Federation after 97 minutes last Saturday, having picked up a serious injury to his left knee. They memorably sparked into life in that incredible last 16 win over Argentina, but were back to being solid yet unspectacular against Uruguay.

President Vladimir Putin did not attend the game, but watched remotely, saying the players were heroes despite the defeat and the country was proud of them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by Interfax. “We’re looking forward to the future”, said Young. Not only is that now the best result of the 2018 World Cup for the Rupert Murdoch owned outlet in the early metrics but it is also the best any Men’s match has done on any American network since the 2014 Federation Internationale de Football Association tournament’s Germany winning final.

Roberto Martinez celebrates Belgium;s quarter-final win over Brazil. The Croats won in a 4-3 penalty shootout.

Croatia have been pushed to the brink twice in penalties, and England may well be fresher due to getting their business done in the 90 minutes against Sweden.