World Cup

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World Cup | Semi-Finals

Dec 13, 2022 at 7pm UK

Lusail Iconic Stadium

Argentina
3 - 0
Croatia

Messi (34' pen.), Alvarez (39', 69')
Romero (68'), Otamendi (71')

FT(HT: 2-0)

Kovacic (32'), Livakovic (32')

Argentina vs. Croatia: How do both squads compare ahead of World Cup clash?

By Adepoju Marvelous | 12 December 2022

Ahead of Friday's World Cup meeting between Argentina and Croatia, Sports Mole looks at how both squads compare, including their most valuable and top-scoring players.

Argentina and Croatia will battle it out for a place in the 2022 World Cup final on Tuesday when they face off at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

The losing finalists from 2014 and 2018 will be aiming to go one better this time around, with one of them guaranteed to be in the grand finale of this year's edition of football's biggest tournament.

After a tense 120 minutes of football, Lionel Scaloni's men held their nerve to see off the threat of the Netherlands via a penalty shootout on Friday.

Similarly, Zlatko Dalic's men also had to keep their cool from 12 yards in their last-eight meeting against Brazil which went down to the wire.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how the squad of Argentina and Croatia stack up against each other ahead of Tuesday's contest.

ARGENTINA

Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates scoring against Australia at the World Cup on December 3, 2022 © Reuters

Most valuable player:
Lautaro Martinez (£64.6m)

Overall squad value:
£556.1m

Most capped player:
Lionel Messi (170)

Leading goalscorer:
Lionel Messi (95)

Total caps:
967

Total goals:
174

Oldest player:
Franco Armani (36)

Youngest player:
Thiago Almada (21)

Average age:
27.8

SQUAD IN FULL

Goalkeepers: Franco Armani (River Plate), Geronimo Rulli (Villarreal), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)

Defenders: Juan Foyth (Villrreal), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton & Hove Albion), Enzo Fernandez (Benfica)

Forwards: Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), Angel Di Maria (Juventus), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)

CROATIA

Croatia's Borna Sosa celebrates after the match on November 27, 2022 © Reuters

Most valuable player:
Josko Gvardiol (£51.6m)

Overall squad value:
£324.6m

Most capped player:
Luka Modric (160)

Leading goalscorer:
Ivan Perisic (33)

Total caps:
1,057

Total goals:
131

Oldest player:
Luka Modric (37)

Youngest player:
Josko Gvardiol (20)

Average age:
27.4

SQUAD IN FULL

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivo Grbic (Atletico Madrid), Ivica Ivusic (Osijek)

Defenders: Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Borna Barisic (Rangers), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo), Dejan Lovren (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Borna Sosa (VfB Stuttgart), Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig), Domagoj Vida (AEK Athens), Josip Juranovic (Celtic), Josip Sutalo (Dinamo Zagreb)

Midfielders: Lovro Majer (Rennes), Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Luka Sucic (Red Bull Salzburg), Kristijan Jakic (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (Tottenham Hotspur), Andrej Kramaric (1899 Hoffenheim), Marko Livaja (Hajduk Split), Bruno Petkovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Mislav Orsic (Dinamo Zagreb)