In the end, England were somewhat cruising in their quarter final tie with Sweden, and now they can set their sights on a rather unpredictable Croatia. Having been very impressive at the group stage – comfortably winning all of their games – Dalić’s side has faltered a little in the knockout matches so far, needing extra time and penalties to get past Denmark and Russia. An optimistic England fan will say the Croatians are going to be fatigued after so many minutes on the pitch, but this tournament has already proven that anything can happen at a World Cup.
Looking to the stats for guidance, England have the edge historically with four wins, one draw and two losses (including friendlies). At the World Cup though, Croatia has a superior win rate and average goals per match and, with players like Modric and Rakitic on the pitch, they certainly won’t be pushovers.
