World Cup: Croatia vs England’s records in knockout games and head-to-head

Croatia will be looking to make history when they face England on Wednesday, aiming to reach their first ever major tournament final.

The Croatian “golden generation” has clicked at this tournament. After a silky-smooth passage out of the group stage, two granite-rough performances saw them beat Denmark and Russia on penalties to make the semi-finals.

However, a rejuvenated English side – lead by the waistcoated wisdom of Gareth Southgate – have enjoyed a renaissance of their own in Russia. They’ve reached the last four for the first time since 1990 and are playing with real feel-good factor at the moment.

It’s going to be a tasty one. But what can we actually expect from the game? We’ve looked at how the teams have fared against each other previously, and what they’ve done in previous tournaments.

Croatia vs England head-to-head

These two sides have met six times in total. It is England hold a slight edge, having emerged victorious three times and drawing once.

England have won the two most recent clashes against this opposition 4-1 and 5-1 respectively, during the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Croatia’s victories may be in the minority, but they came with devastating psychological consequences for the Three Lions. Both happened during the 2008 European Championship qualifying campaigns, which featured two goalkeeping howlers.

Paul Robinson allowed a backpass to bobble over his foot, gifting Croatia a 2-0 win back in 2006. Then, the Croats felled England in their own backyard, winning 3-2 at Wembley after Scott Carson fumbled a tame shot into his own net.

Croatia in knockouts

Croatia’s best World Cup to date was also their first in 1998. They took the world by storm, charging towards the semi-finals before being knocked out by hosts France.

Since then, they have qualified for a further three World Cups – in 2002, 2006 and 2014 – only to be knocked out in the group stage at each opportunity.

They have reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships twice in 1996 and 2008, but have failed to progress further. They save their best for the Jules Rimet.

England in knockouts

For England, the semi-finals are hardly familiar territory. They’ve been knocked out at the quarter-final stage nine times after attending 14 tournaments. England have reached the semi-finals only twice before – back when they won the World Cup in 1966, and when West Germany beat them in the last four at Italia ’90.

At the European Championships… well, just don’t mention Iceland. They crashed out of the 2016 tournament as the Vikings beat them 2-1 in the last 16.

In fact, barring a run to the semi-finals in1996 when hosting the tournament, the European competition has been pretty lousy for England. They’ve only got past the quarter-finals stage twice, finishing third on both occasions (1968 being the other time).