Croatia will be seeking to become the fourth European nation to reach back-to-back World Cup finals when they go head to head with Argentina at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
The South American champions, on the other hand, will set out to secure a sixth final appearance as they eye a third world title and their first since 1986.
Lionel Scaloni's men overcame a late and shocking comeback scare in their quarter-final clash with Netherlands as they secured a penalty shootout victory after a rollercoaster 120 minutes.
Heading into the final seven minutes of normal time with a comfortable 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi, a brace from Wout Weghorst — including a dramatic 100th-minute equaliser — stretched the game to extra time.
Following a physically and emotionally challenging draining 30 minutes, the game was decided on penalties, where Emiliano Martinez showed his class as he made two stops to inspire La Albiceleste to a 4-3 victory.
Prior to that, Argentina picked up two wins from their three group-stage outings to secure top spot in Group C and progress to the round of 16 where they secured a 2-1 victory over Australia at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium on December 3.
Like Martinez, Dominik Livakovic turned in a truly world-class performance for Croatia in their quarter-final clash against title favourites Brazil as he made a plethora of saves between the sticks to keep the Checkered Ones in the game before yet another penalty shootout heroics.
Following a goalless 90 minutes, Neymar got the breakthrough strike in the 106th minute to put the Selecao ahead, but substitute Bruno Petkovic restored parity in the 117th minute to force penalties, where Livakovic denied Rodrygo's opening spot kick to inspire Zlatko Dalic's side to a 4-2 victory.
Croatia are now on the cusp of reaching back-to-back World Cup finals without a knockout stage victory in normal time after going all the way in Russia four years ago before their 4-2 defeat at the hands of France in the final.
However, their next task pits them against an Argentina side who have never been knocked out in the semi-finals of the World Cup, a run stretching back to 1978, when they clinched their first-ever world title courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Netherlands.
However, Dalic's men will take courage in the fact that the results have been split right down the middle in the history of this fixture, having picked up two wins and one draw from their previous five meetings with the South American powerhouse.
Croatia and Argentina first squared off in a friendly fixture back in June 1994, when the spoils were shared in an uneventful goalless draw at Zagreb's Stadion Maksimir.
Since then, both sides have met in the World Cup on two different occasions, with their first encounter coming in June 1998, when La Albiceleste claimed a 1-0 victory thanks to a first-half strike from Mauricio Pineda.
The Checkered Ones returned the favour exactly 20 years later, when they secured a 3-0 victory to sink the two-time world champions in Group D courtesy of second-half goals from Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic.
ARGENTINA VS. CROATIA HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
Argentina wins: 2
Croatia wins: 2
Draws: 1
Argentina goals: 5
Croatia goals: 7
MATCH HISTORY
June 4, 1994: Argentina 0-0 Croatia (International Friendly)
June 26, 1998: Argentina 1-0 Croatia (FIFA World Cup)
March 1, 2006: Argentina 2-3 Croatia (International Friendly)
November 12, 2014: Argentina 2-1 Croatia (International Friendly)
June 21, 2018: Argentina 0-3 Croatia (FIFA World Cup)
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