Argentina or Croatia: the chances of teams in the semi-finals of the World Cup are weighted

The first semi-final match of the World Cup-22 will take place on December 13. The teams of Argentina and Croatia will take to the Lusail stadium field. According to some indicators, the Croats, surprisingly, are stronger than the Argentines. “MK” understands this interesting and very confusing issue.

Even before the start of the tournament, the Argentines were considered among the favorites for the championship. But the Croats were more likely in the category of likely participants in the playoffs. Access to the final and silver medals of the 2018 World Cup added credibility to the team of Zlatko Dalic, but still no one took it seriously as the true favorites of the drafts. After all, after the 2018 final, there was a departure from the 1/8 playoffs of the 2020 European Championship. And over the past four years, the achievements of the Argentines have been much more significant.

The path of the opponents to the semi-finals at this championship was not easy.

The Argentines in Group C took first place, beating Poland and Mexico, but suffered an unexpected defeat from Saudi Arabia. In the 1/8, the Argentines beat Australia, and in the quarterfinals they defeated the Dutch in the penalty shootout.

Croats were second in Group F. The first place in this group was taken by the Moroccans – the main sensation of the World Cup in Qatar. In the 1/8 finals, the Croatians defeated another heroes of the championship, the Japanese, on penalties, and in the quarterfinals they also sent the Brazilians home on penalties.

On the eve of the semi-final match, we decided to compare the two teams.

Argentina

Argentina played its first official match on May 16, 1901, beating Uruguay 3-2.

Titles and achievements

The Argentina national team is one of the most respected and honored teams in the world. Some of her titles generally exist in a single copy or have not yet submitted to other teams.

The Argentines have participated in the World Championships 18 times. The first participation was in the first tournament in Uruguay in 1930. They won the World Cup twice – in 1978 and 1986 (with the help of the “hand of God”) and became second three times.

In the America’s Cup, the Argentines are in second place in terms of the number of victories. They have 14 titles while the Uruguayans have 15. They won their last Copa América in 2021, regaining the title after a 28-year hiatus.

He also has two Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008, as well as a victory in the Confederations Cup in 1992.

The Argentines are also the only winners of the Finalissima title so far. This is a new tournament consisting of one match, in which the winners of the European Championship and the America’s Cup meet. On June 1, 2022, at the Wembley Stadium in London, the Argentines defeated the Italians 3-0.

The cost of the current composition

According to the authoritative international site Transfermarkt, the total value of the current composition of the Argentine national team is 645.2 million euros.

The most expensive players and leaders of the national team

You will be surprised, but Lionel Messi is not the most expensive player on this list. In the first place is the central striker of the Italian “Inter” Lutaro Martinez, his approximate cost is estimated at 75 million euros. In second place is the central defender of the English “Tottenham” Cristiano Romero for 55 million euros. And only after them, Messi shares 3rd-4th places with the central defender of Manchester United Lisandro Martinez, with a cost of 50 million euros. Messi is already 35 years old, and, despite all his greatness, the price of a football player at this age is decreasing every year. And Lutaro and Cristiano are still quite young, so they are valued above the most deserved. It is impossible not to mention others – Fernandez, Alistair, Alvarez, Dybala, Molina … In general, solid stars are collected in the national team, and the fact that they have become a single team that claims to win the World Cup in Qatar is an undoubted merit of their head coach Scaloni.

Main coach

Lionel Sebastián Scaloni, an Argentine footballer and coach, is in charge of the albicelles, whose contract was signed on November 30, 2018, after the previous coach Sampaoli left his post. In four years, he managed to return the Argentines to their former glory. In addition to winning the America’s Cup and the Finalissim, there is also the “bronze” of the 2019 America’s Cup.

Grateful fans even named the national team after him – “La Scaloneta”, which was awarded to few coaches in the history of Argentine football. The preferred formation of the game is 4-4-2.

Scaloni’s salary is 2.6 million euros. Among other coaches of the World Cup-22, it is quite high – in the ranking he is in seventh place (German Flik tops the list with 6.5 million euros). His contract with the Argentine Football Federation runs until December 31, 2026.

Croatia

The Croatian national team in history had two “first” matches at once. This is due to the peculiarities of the political world order in Europe.

April 2, 1940 in Zagreb, the Croats defeated the Swiss with a score of 4:0. The second “first” match took place fifty years later. On October 17, 1990, the Americans were also defeated in Zagreb with a score of 2: 1.

Titles and achievements

Due to political peculiarities, it is also difficult to count the own achievements of the Croatian team, since from 1945 to 1990 Croatia was part of the SFRY. Therefore, the achievements of the Croats may seem much more modest than those of Argentina.

Since 1990, “checkers” have participated in the European Championships six times and reached the quarterfinals twice, in 1996 and 2008.

At the world championships, the successes of the Croats are much more significant. Taking part in five tournaments, they became third in 1998, and at the 2018 World Cup, held in Russia, they completely won silver medals, losing to the French in the final match on the Luzhniki field. With whom they, in case of victory over Argentina, can also meet in the final of the World Cup-22. But let’s not rush things.

The cost of the current composition

The cost of the entire Croatian team is almost a widow less than their counterpart in the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar. According to the authoritative international site Transfermarkt, the total cost of the current squad is 377 million euros.

The most expensive players and leaders of the national team

The most expensive Croatian player at World Cup 22 is RB Leipzig defender Josko Guardiol. Now Transfermarkt estimates it at 60 million euros. But there is already an offer from Manchester City for 100 million. And all thanks to the successful game of the national team at the World Cup.

In second place is Chelsea center midfielder Mateo Kovacic, worth (so far) €40m, while Inter defensive midfielder Marcelo Brozovic is in third place, worth €35m.

The captain of the national team, the most respected and honored Croatian footballer, midfielder of Real Madrid Luka Modric is now estimated at 10 million euros, but given his 37-year-old age, this is quite good.

To be honest, it is quite difficult to talk about the leaders of the Croatian national team, since this team is strong precisely in its team play. What Brazilians, Belgians and Japanese have already experienced.

The emergence of such a team would not have been possible without their head coach Zlatko Dalic.

Main coach

Zlatko Dalic, a former Yugoslav and Croatian footballer, has been in charge of the drafts since October 7, 2017. It was then that he temporarily headed the Croatian national team, which had decisive matches in the selection for the 2018 World Cup. Having brought his national team to the final part of the tournament, Dalic signed a permanent contract with the Croatian Football Union. At the 2018 World Cup, the Croats made a loud sensation, reaching the final of the tournament, where they lost to the French team with a score of 2:4.

In Qatar, before repeating the record four years ago, it remains only to pass the Argentines. And this, surprisingly, the Croats are quite capable of. After all, they managed to defeat the pentakampeons themselves.

As a club coach, Dalić won the Albanian Super Cup with Dinamo Tirana in 2008, and won the Saudi Crown Prince Cup with Al-Hilal in the 2012/13 season.

According to some experts, Dalic’s preferred scheme of play is 4-3-3.

The contract between Dalic and the national football union, valid until June 30, 2024, is estimated at 550,000 euros. Which is five times less than that of Lionel Scaloni. Moreover, he is not even included in this indicator in the coaching top 10 of the 2022 World Cup. However, his salary may rise in the near future, given the successful performance of the Croats in Qatar.

History of confrontations

The most surprising thing is that the statistics of personal meetings between the Argentine and Croatian teams in the recent history of football are absolutely equal.

In total, five matches were played – three friendly and two in the framework of the world championships. The Argentines won twice, the Croats were twice stronger, one meeting ended in a draw.

Croats defeated Argentina 3-0 at the 2018 World Cup. The victory of the Argentines at the World Cup-98 was more modest – 1:0.

Moreover, the Croats scored more goals against albicelesta, they scored seven goals, and the Argentines managed to upset the Croatian goalkeepers only five times.

And there is only one defeat in the history of personal confrontations – the already mentioned 3-0 in favor of the Croats.

And if the statistics do not lie, then Messi and his comrades will need to work hard to reach the final of the Qatari championship. Because so far there are slightly more chances of a successful outcome of their duel in favor of the Croats.