Two European sides meet in semi-final in what looks to be a tense tie

England captain Harry Kane (L) and Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic (R). [Photo/Courtesy]

Gareth Southgate and England have defied all expectations to reach the final four of the 2018 FIFA World Cup where they will lock horns with Croatia this coming tonight.

 Croatia started the tournament strongly but England will surely offer the sternest test they have come up against so far in the competition.

Getting the ball rolling

First things first, swing by the Oddsshark website, select your favourite betting agency and open your account with a username and password.

As a new customer and the World Cup close to deciding its winner, there should be a wide range of promotions on offer.

Where can I win money in this game?

The Three Lions have looked better and better with every game at the tournament, and put in their best showing in the quarter-final tie against Sweden. England looked well organised and composed, and deserved the comfortable 2-0 win that they recorded.

And they come into this game as the favourites to make it to the final. England are at 2.37 to win the tie in 90 minutes, while Croatia are at 3.50 to do the same, according to Oddsshark.

Alternatively, you can make a simpler bet based solely on who will qualify for the final, and again it is England who are at the shorter price. England are at 1.61 to progress and you can more than doubly your money by backing Croatia at 2.30.

Croatia, for their part, started their World Cup campaign strongly with comfortable wins over both Nigeria and Argentina, 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.

However, they have not looked quite as strong in the knock-out phase and have now been forced to play 120 minutes and go to penalties in consecutive matches against Denmark and Russia.

The Croatian side deserve credit for coming through two nerve-wracking penalty shoot-outs, and with these two teams so evenly matched there is every chance that this game will not be resolved inside 90 minutes.

Both sides are at 10.00 to win the game on penalties, and England are also at 10.00 to win after extra time, while Croatia’s price rises to 13.00.

We have also seen some frailties in both defences over the last few games and we could well see goals in this tie. Under two goals is priced at 2.50, two or three goals at 2.00, while over three goals is priced higher at 5.00.

The biggest problem for Croatia, however, may be energy levels. They have played 120 minutes of football, as well as two high pressure penalty shoot-outs, twice in less than a week and it must catch up with them sooner or later.

England got the job done in 90 minutes and will undoubtedly come into this game as the fresher group of players. While it is never easy predicting the exact outcome of a game, you can back England to win this match 2-0 at a price of 11.00, offering more than a ten-fold return on any investment.

As always, England will be looking to Harry Kane to get the goals they need to win the tie. The Tottenham front man is the favourite to get on the score sheet in this one, and is priced at just 2.25 to net at any time and 4.33 to open the scoring.

Kane meanwhile remains the favourite to win this year’s Golden Boot award. Already with six goals to his name – two ahead of Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku – he is at just 1.14 to collect the individual prize.

Veteran forward Mario Mandzukic would look to be Croatia’s best chance of a goal. He is at 3.75 to score at any point during the game and at 8.00 to net either the first or last goal of the game.

You can also stake a claim on the half-time result as well as at the final whistle. Do you think the scores will be level at the break and England will go on and win the game? Then you can back that outcome at 5.00.

England are at just 3.75 to be ahead at both the interval and the full-time whistle. Croatia, by way of comparison, ate at 5.50 to be ahead at the end of both halves.

An interesting observation from watching England has been the number of goals they have scored from aerial balls. Southgate’s side has scored no fewer than five goals through headers so far, and you can back the first goal to be a header here at a price of 5.50.

World Cup semi-final odds:

Wednesday, 11 July

9.00pm – (3.60) Croatia x England (2.35); draw (3.10)

World Cup winners:

France (3.00)
Belgium (3.75)
England (3.75)
Croatia (5.00)

World Cup finalists:

England (1.66)
France (1.72)
Belgium (2.10)
Croatia (2.20)