Don't miss a goal of this massive semi-final showdown kicking off live and free on at 5:30AM AEDT this Wednesday.
It's a nervous wait for each of Croatia and Argentina after their nail-biting performances to hold on in their respective penalty shootout thrillers.
Argentina have reached the semi-final of the World Cup for the fifth time, after 1930, 1986, 1990 and 2014. They progressed to the 1978 final from a second group stage (beating Netherlands 3-1 after extra time in the final).
Argentina buffed their very impressive stats from penalty shootouts at World Cup as they became the first team to win two penalty shootouts against the same opponent (Netherlands) at the World Cup. Argentina became the first team to be involved in six penalty shootouts at the World Cup (W5-L1).
Lionel Messi has proved to be the difference maker for the Albiceleste and in the win over the Netherlands, he joined Gabriel Batistuta on a record 10 World Cup goals for Argentina. Messi (4 goals, 2 assists) has been directly involved in six of Argentina's nine goals this tournament.
Messi played his 24th World Cup match, joint second-most alongside Miroslav Klose. He can equal the record set by Lothar Matthäus (25) in the semi-finals against Croatia on 13 December.
There were 17 bookings in the match against the Netherlands, including two for Argentina coaches Lionel Scaloni and Walter Samuel. This was a new record for a World Cup match, and it means that Argentina will miss the presence of Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna for the semi-final with a one-game suspension.
Croatia made it a perfect three from three in World Cup quarter-finals: a 3-0 win against Germany in Lyon in 1998, a penalty shootout victory versus Russia in Sochi in 2018 and their penalty shootout win over Brazil, again securing their progression to the semi-finals.
Croatia have also won all four of their World Cup penalty shootouts. Only (West) Germany (4) have been involved in as many World Cup penalty shootouts and still have a 100% winning record.
Of Croatia's last nine major tournament (World Cup/EUROs) knockout phase matches, eight went to extra time. The only exception in that run was a 4-2 defeat versus France in Moscow in the 2018 World Cup final.
Croatia had only one shot on goal against Brazil, but made it count with Petkovic’s extra-time equaliser. Brazil recorded 11 shots on target, and Croatia won’t want to ride their luck as much against Argentina.
How to watch Argentina v Croatia LIVE and FREE on SBS
Wednesday, December 14
Semi-Final - Argentina v Croatia
5:30am - 8:30am (AEDT) - kick-off at 6:00am
LIVE on SBS and SBS On Demand
