England vs Croatia: WC semi-final, stats and analysis
11 July, 2018
The World Cup has entered the final straight with just three matches still to be played -- and that means we're one step closer to discovering who will be crowned our predictions king.
This campaign marks the first time England have reached a semi-final in the tournament since 1990. Croatia, meanwhile have made the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time since 1998.
England and Croatia meet today at 12:00 a.m. in Bangladesh time in the 2018 World Cup semifinals at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.
Let’s look at some of the statistics ahead of the thrilling encounter.
Head-to-head
They have have met once before at a major tournament - England won 4-2 in a group stage match at Euro 2004.
This will be their eighth meeting overall; England have won four times, Croatia twice, with one draw.
Croatia's last victory against England was the infamous "Wally with the Brolly" match which Croatia won 3-2 at Wembley in November 2007 to end England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008.
Six of the previous seven games have also been played on a Wednesday.
Croatia
Croatia are playing in their second World Cup semi-final after a last four appearance on their debut in the tournament in 1998.
They reached the semi-finals via a penalty shootout victory in the last 16 against Denmark and the quarter-final against Russia. The only other team to win two shootouts in a single World Cup were Argentina in 1990 (against Yugoslavia and Italy).
Their only defeat in six World Cup knockout matches was against France in the 1998 semi-final.
That is Croatia's only defeat in eight World Cup matches against European opposition (W5, D2).
Only three of the 10 goals they have scored have been via set-pieces - the others have all been from open play.
However, three out of the four goals that they have conceded have been from set-pieces.
They are unbeaten in their last nine competitive games since losing 1-0 to Turkey in September 2017.
The Croats have had eight different scorers at this World Cup; only Belgium with nine have had more.
England
This is England's third World Cup semi-final following their 2-1 win over Portugal in 1966 and their penalty shootout defeat to West Germany in 1990.
The Three Lions have lost their last three semi-finals at major tournaments (Euro 96 v Germany, 1990 World Cup v West Germany and Euro 68 v Yugoslavia).
England's current haul of 11 goals has equalled their highest total at a World Cup, set in 1966.
After losing three consecutive World Cup games, England have lost just one of their last six (W3, D2).
England have not beaten two European nations in a single World Cup since 1982, when they beat Czechoslovakia and France.
They have lost just two of their last 30 competitive matches (W22, D6) since losing their first two matches at the 2014 World Cup.
Eight of England's 11 goals have been scored via set-pieces - the most in a single World Cup since Portugal in 1966.
Four of their goals have come via corners. The last three teams to score four or more goals from corners at a World Cup have gone on to win it - Germany in 2014, Italy in 2006 and France in 1998.
England's tally of five different scorers is their joint-most in a tournament along with 1954, 1998 and 2002.
Harry Kane is the World Cup's top scorer with six goals. At the previous nine World Cups, only Ronaldo (eight for Brazil in 2002) has scored more. No European player has scored seven goals at a single World Cup since Poland's Grzegorz Lato got seven in 1974, while no European player has scored eight since Gerd Muller hit 10 for West Germany in 1970.