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Ranking World Cup semifinalists

By Joe Prince-WrightJul 7, 2018, 5:22 PM EDT
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And then there were four…

[ MORE: Latest 2018 World Cup news ] 

The 2018 World Cup semifinals are now set with France playing Belgium on Tuesday in Saint Petersburg and England facing Croatia on Wednesday in Moscow.

We should basically call this the 2018 European Championships. In all seriousness, the final four teams remaining are evenly-balanced and the next week should deliver two stunning semifinals and a final.

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Below we rank the final four based on their current form and likelihood of winning it all in Russia.

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4. Croatia – Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic make this Croatian team purr but in their knockout round penalty kicks wins against Denmark and Russia they’ve hardly impressed. If Dejan Lovren can shore up Croatia’s defense and stop Harry Kane, then they’ll have a chance. That’s a big if though. Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Krameric will cause England problems if they can drag their three center backs out wide. Just a second World Cup semifinal in their history and a first since 1998 is a huge achievement.

3. England – What the Three Lions have managed to do at this World Cup is astonishing and anything is now a bonus for Gareth Southgate‘s side. Yet despite Kane leading the Golden Boot race, the youngest team left in the competition seem to still have at least a few gears left. Winning the midfield battle against Croatia will be key, with Jordan Henderson likely needing plenty of help against Rakitic and Modric.

2. France – They’ve come through the toughest side of the bracket and saw off Uruguay in impressive fashion. Defensively they’re getting better throughout the tournament with Hugo Lloris getting rid of his mistakes, plus Varane and Umtiti a fine central defensive partnership. Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe have a great understanding in attack and both Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante have had very good World Cups.

1. Belgium – After that stunning display against Brazil they will be full of confidence. All of their stars are playing well with Romelu Lukaku a beast, Eden Hazard buzzing around and Kevin De Bruyne leading stunning counter attacks. Roberto Martinez has also shown he can get his tactics right for individual games and despite a few defensive slip ups, you can’t argue with Belgium being the favorites to win it all.

England fans celebrate World Cup win over Sweden at IKEA (video)

AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
Associated PressJul 8, 2018, 2:02 PM EDT
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LONDON (AP) England has to win two more games to bring the World Cup home, but the enthusiasm some soccer fans displayed after their team advanced to the semi-finals met international expectations.

[ RECAP: England tops Sweden ]

Emergency services personnel complained Sunday about the “disgraceful” behavior of a small number of supporters who celebrated England’s victory over Sweden by dancing on top of an ambulance and badly damaging it.

Sergeant Wayne Baker of West Yorkshire police tweeted that the behavior made him “anything but proud to be British.” The ambulance used as a dance floor on Saturday was out of service.

But retailer IKEA took in stride the England fans who bounced and rolled on furniture and kicked items at the Swedish-founded company’s east London store.

The company said it was “aware” of the incident and congratulated England on its win.

Why they’ll win the World Cup: England

AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano
By Nicholas MendolaJul 8, 2018, 1:10 PM EDT
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That said, let’s talk about why England will be lifting the World Cup trophy on July 15 in Moscow.

[ RECAP: England tops Sweden ]

There’s an argument to be made that all four World Cup semifinalists are playing with house money. Didier Deschamps has already declared France’s tournament a success; Belgium’s Golden Generation has scored several historically memorable wins; Croatia was bounced at the group stage at its three previous World Cups, and England’s men have met their first semi in ages.

If that’s the way England continues to view their tournament, then perhaps the title really may be “coming home.” It seems the media and fans are riding the momentum of an unexpected run and relatively easy path to the final instead of doing what they usually do: Heaping pressure on England due to “an opportunity that cannot be dropped!”

England has emerged relatively unscathed, driven by the performances of two fellas named Harry, a Jordan, and a Kieran.

While Harry Kane‘s heroics have been well-documented at Tottenham Hotspur, his teammate Kieran Trippier has mostly been under the radar going back to his time leading the Premier League in crosses with Burnley.

And Harry Maguire was the star man on Hull City’s relegation campaign in 2016-17 before moving to Leicester City and performing well albeit under the radar last season (Note to self: Keep looking at which PL relegated players haven’t landed with new PL clubs).

Then there’s Jordan Pickford, the Everton-via-Sunderland backstop who is enjoying not being massively under fire for once in his last three seasons. The Northeast England native may be called upon to reprise his busy act soon, but has so far been constrained to the occasional mega watt save.

In taking over for Sam Allardyce, Gareth Southgate has been the anti-Big Sam: no bluster, all feel good. And we know the honeymoon may not last forever, but the ex-Middlesbrough boss so far has the momentum of something much bigger than his resume.

The sum of its parts > England’s collection of talent.

Maybe the World Cup trophy is “coming home.”

Transfer rumor roundup: Zaha to Dortmund; Guendouzi to Arsenal

Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaJul 8, 2018, 12:21 PM EDT
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For all the improvements Roy Hodgson made at Crystal Palace, none was more important than a healthy and in-form Wilfried Zaha.

The Ivorian, 25, is long removed from his failed spell at Manchester United, and has collecting 16 goals and 16 assists over his last two seasons at Selhurst Park.

[ MORE: Diomande destroying ]

Palace has one win and 11 losses when Zaha is not in the lineup during that span. And reports earlier this weekend say he’s turned down a massive new contract.

Gulp.

Borussia Dortmund is said to be chasing Zaha’s signature with the money it may be accumulating from the sale of Andriy Yarmolenko to West Ham (according to Bild).

Meanwhile, Arsenal is said to be moving closer to bringing Lucas Toreira to North London, what with the Uruguayan’s World Cup recently finished, but a new name is in Unai Emery’s sights according to Sky Sports.

Matteo Guendouzi, 19, could be leaving Lorient for Arsenal. The $9 million youngster played in 18 matches for the Ligue 2 side last season and has represented France from U-18 to U-20 as a center mid.

Why they’ll win the World Cup: Croatia

AP Photo/Darko Bandic
By Nicholas MendolaJul 8, 2018, 11:22 AM EDT
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First of all, relax — This is part of a four-post series making the case for each of four World Cup semifinalists in their respective bids to win the 2018 edition of the tournament.

That said, let’s talk about why Croatia will be lifting the World Cup trophy on July 15 in Moscow.

[ RECAP: Croatia outlasts Russia ]

Croatia’s path to the World Cup semifinals has seen two rounds of decent fortune after a group stage of dominance.

Vatreni could’ve knocked Denmark out with a late penalty kick before persevering from the spot, and Russia was a very difficult combatant in its home World Cup, but the team that clobbered Nigeria and Argentina before wearing down Iceland has had to show a bit more mettle in the knockout rounds despite facing two less-than-powerful opponents.

Now comes England, which picked up an impressive win against Sweden but has yet to knockoff a marquee opponent. Colombia was without James Rodriguez, Sweden had a good tournament but missed its retired superstar in LA, and both Tunisia and Panama weren’t exactly great shakes.

So it’s reasonable to wonder whether France or Belgium is a better final opponent for Vatreni. Like France, one of the best cases for a Croatian title comes in the form of a prolific striker who is yet to deliver much: Croatia has 10 goals at the tournament but only one belongs to Mario Mandzukic.

And then there’s the trio of players at the back end of their career primes: Ivan Perisic (29), Ivan Rakitic (30), and Luka Modric (32). The latter has looked like a man with a body 10 years his junior and a wisdom 20 his senior, and the trio is performing with the tenacity manager Zlatko Dalić showed at defensive mid during his well-traveled playing career.

Throw in fiery goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and a “greater than the sum of its parts” defensive corps, and Croatia can get the job done twice in the next week.