Croatia falls short of the World Cup finals

Croatia advanced to the semi-finals after beating the tournament's odds on favorite Brazil in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Friday. This was Croatia’s third semi-final appearance at a world cup.

Croatia fell short of the finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after losing to Argentina 3:nil, in Lusail this evening. For the second time in its history, the Croatian national football team was defeated in the semi-finals of the world championship, while Argentina entered its sixth final with a convincing 3:0 (2:0) win over Croatia in the semi-final match in Lusail.

The first half was played very cautiously on both sides, nonetheless Argentina ended the half a 2:nil advantage. Argentina’s 21-year-old striker Julian Alvarez forced a penalty in the 34th minute, which Lionel Messi converted into a 1:nil lead. Only five minutes later Argentina extended its lead to 2:nil, with the aforementioned Alvarez scoring after a counterattack. In the second half, Croatia went for broke, with Nikola Vlašić, Bruno Petković and Mislav Oršić coming on. Unfortunately, Argentina was again stronger in the offensive end, with Alvarez scoring a third goal in the 69th minute of play.

In Sunday's final Argentina awaits the winner of the semifinal between France and Morocco, which will be played on Wednesday. On Saturday, Croatia will play for third place, at 4:00 PM Central European Time, against the loser from the second semi-final.

Argentina will be looking to win its third World Cup, having won in 1978 and 1986. Their last World Cup final was in 2014, when they lost to Germany in the final. Croatia will be looking to repeat its third place performance from the 1998 World Cup in France, having finished runners-up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Source: HRT