We’re down to the last four teams at the World Cup: France, Belgium, Croatia and England. Who on earth would have thought that these would be the last teams standing? But we’re not complaining. It’s been a World Cup full of surprises and there's definitely room for more. I mean, England won a penalty shootout.
As always, we’ve picked our best lineup from the top performers in the quarterfinals. A 4-4-2 formation is how the team looks again.
This is, without a doubt, the most attention a T3 (third coach) has ever received before a World Cup semifinal, but you can certainly understand why: Thierry Henry, the man who appeared in 123 matches for France while scoring 51 goals, is now tasked with educating the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens in the art of deconstructing Les Bleus.
Immigrant players and sons of immigrants largely make up World Cup rosters. Welcoming immigration has proven to be the secret to having success at the World Cup. Out of the four teams still remaining in the tournament, France, Belgium and England feature squads composed of players from very diverse origins.
In the end, Neymar’s lasting legacy from the 2018 World Cup will probably be a KFC commercial that mocked his widely ridiculed roll against Serbia. The tumble also generated some great memes.
The 2018 World Cup semifinals begin on Tuesday with France vs Belgium in Saint Petersburg. The final will then be set following the completion of Wednesday's matchup between England and Croatia in Moscow. Here are our World Cup semi finals predictions, including team news, injuries, tactics and previews.
France vs Belgium
Tuesday, July 10 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Saint Petersburg Stadium
FOX and Telemundo
Every four years the World Cup comes around and presents some of the best athletes from the world of soccer. From incredible passes to mind-boggling goals, the tournament is the largest sporting competition in the world, drawing the largest television audiences ever recorded.
It’s a mantra that’s gathered steam over the course of the 2018 World Cup, but what does it’s coming home mean? Beginning with Harry Kane’s last-ditch winner against Tunisia, gathering steam in the five-goal first half against Panama, working into a crescendo following the breaking of the dreaded penalty shootout curse against Colombia and reaching a fever pitch following a 2-0 win over world-beaters Sweden, football's now well and truly coming home.
Congratulations to England, but that second game was a stunner, goodness gracious me. As a neutral, it’s difficult to remember anything from the early match after what we’ve just witnessed in Sochi. That was everything: crackling, attacking, heart-palpitating goodness. I can’t even think straight. Russia’s out, but Russia really won me over with that one.
Russia’s unlikely run is finally over. The worst team in the 2018 World Cup was finally eliminated with a shootout loss for Russia vs Croatia in the quarterfinals on Saturday. After a 2-2 draw, Croatia edged the host country 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout.