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Sunday, July 8, 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia June 14 - July 15,2018 - It’s England vs Croatia, France vs Belgium in race to final

2018 FIFA World Cup SF Draw



Tuesday, July 10,2018
At Saint Petersburg: France v Belgium 11:30 pm IST


Wednesday, July 11,2018
At Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow: Croatia v England 11:30 pm IST


Belgium is ranked third in the world, France seventh, England 12th and Croatia 20th.

Since winning its only title at Wembley in 1966, England had reached the World Cup semifinals just once, losing to West Germany on penalty kicks at Italia 1990.

France lost semifinals in 1958 and 1982, won its only World Cup at home in 1998, then lost the 2006 final — sacre bleu! — to Italy in the infamous Zinedine Zidane head-butt game.

Croatia fell to France in the 1998 semifinals in its first appearance as an independent nation after the disintegration of Yugoslavia

No matter which team wins, the final four is a triumph of the Big Five — Europe’s top professional leagues. Eighty-one of 92 players on semifinal rosters are with clubs in England (40), Spain (12), France (12), Germany (nine) and Italy (eight)

All of England’s players are home based, with 22 in the Premier League and one in the second-tier League Championship

France has nine from its Ligue 1, six from La Liga, five from the Premier League, two from the Bundesliga and one from Serie A.

Nearly half of Belgium’s roster — 11 — was in the Premier League season, joined by three from Germany, two apiece from France, Spain and China, and one each in France, Italy and Scotland. Defender Leander Dendoncker in the lone player to stay at home, with Anderlecht.

Croatia has six in Serie A, four each in La Liga and the Bundesliga, and one apiece in England, France, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The only two from home are midfielder Filip Bradaric, whose sole appearance was as a second-half substitute in the group phase, and backup goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

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