HISTORY awaits for England in Moscow tonight as Gareth Southgate leads the Three Lions to their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years.
Victory over Croatia would see them reach the final of the competition for the first time since they won it on home soil in 1966 and wins over Sweden and Colombia in the last two rounds have instilled a belief that their time has come.
But a talented Croatia side will be no pushovers after seeing off Russia and Denmark on penalties on the back of an impressive group stage campaign that included a 3-0 hammering of Argentina.
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France lie in wait for the winner after overcoming Belgium 1-0 in last night’s semi-final in St Petersburg.
Timings
Kick-off is at 7pm BST, 9pm local time.
Venue
The game will take place at the tournament’s showcase venue, Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
The 78,000-seater arena is Russia’s national stadium and will host the final on Sunday, where the winners of tonight’s clash will face France.
It also housed the tournament opener between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and the home nation’s dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Spain in the last 16 also took place here.
Where to watch
ITV will have full coverage of the game, with build-up beginning from 6pm.
Team news
England manager Gareth Southgate has a fully-fit squad to choose from and is likely to line up with the same team that defeated Sweden and Colombia in the last two rounds.
Jordan Henderson has overcome a fitness concern along with striker Jamie Vardy, with both players training fully in preparation for the last-four clash yesterday.
Croatia, meanwhile, are sweating over the fitness of some key players as goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, centre-back Dejan Lovren and right-back Sime Vrsaljko are all doubtful.
The trio missed training on Monday after Subasic had to stop taking goal kicks due to a hamstring strain suffered in their quarter-final victory over Russia.
Vrsaljko appears the least likely to make it and Vedran Corluka could be set to step in at centre-back with Domagoj Vida pushed out to the right.
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