THE Lusail Stadium plays host to the first of this week's two World Cup semi-finals as Argentina come up against Croatia on Tuesday night.
After overcoming a faltering start to their latest quest for a first World Cup triumph since 1986, Argentina topped Group C, eliminated Australia and then went on to claim a dramatic quarter-final victory over Netherlands last time out.
Despite holding a two-goal lead over the Dutch with less than 10 minutes to play, Lionel Scaloni's side hit the self-destruct button before coming through extra-time to win the subsequent penalty shootout 4-3.
That means Argentina's dream of clinching a first World Cup since the days of Diego Maradona remains alive and they will now look to seal their place in this year's final for what would be the second time across the last three showpieces.
Standing in the South American's ways of another shot at glory is a Croatia side who have already shown that they are capable of a giant killing after claiming the scalp of pre-tournament favourites Brazil on Friday courtesy of their own penalty shootout success via a 1-1 draw after extra-time.
In doing so, Zlatko Dalić has stunningly steered his side to the semi-final stage for the second World Cup in succession and beating another international behemoth here will surely be a mouth-watering prospect for the Balkan nation.
Outright Betting
Argentina, who crashed to a 3-0 defeat against Croatia during the group stage of the last World Cup, head into this semi-final showdown as odds-on 19/25 favourites with Highbet.
Each of Croatia's last three World Cup matches have ended all square in regulation time and the same outcome here can be be backed at 23/10 (Highbet) while a Checkered Ones success has been chalked up at 19/5 (Highbet)
Betting Angles
This contest could be closer than the odds suggest so I'm going to opt for an alternative angle by means of the Bet Builder market and throw together Argentina to score and over three Argentina corners at 4/5 (Bet 365).
With Croatia yet to taste defeat at Qatar, and with them likely to demonstrate their typical stern resistance, Argentina may need to adopt a patient approach when trying to break down their opponents, as was the case for the aforementioned and already-eliminated Brazil.
That being said, I'm going to hang my hat on a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina side to succeed where their South American foes failed by notching against Croatia inside 90 minutes – something Lionel Scaloni's side have managed to do in each of their five World Cup 2022 outings so far.
In, fact, the White and Sky Blue have made the net bulge in a massive 37 of their last 39 international matches and I fancy them to follow suit here with the backing of fervent support, not to mention Croatia's creaking backline was breached against against both Canada and Japan en-route to the last-four.
As such, I'm prepared to side with at least one Argentina strike here, but to bump up the price, I'll also go with a minimum of four Argentina corners – a line they have covered in three of their five World Cup 2022 fixtures thus far.
It's also worth noting that the above-mentioned Bet Builder would have paid out in three of the Argies' five Middle East assignments to date and that only adds to the appeal of supporting the same 4/5 (Bet 365) formula at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.
With Argentina likely to dictate the tempo of the game, and Croatia looking to sit deep and soak up pressure, I also like the look of Argentina covering a -1 corner handicap at 20/23 (BetVictor).
Scaloni's warriors have won the corner count whilst overcoming a 1- hurdle in three of their five outings at this year's finals so they could be worthy of some interest to repeat the trick here against a Croatian team that are likely to focus on rearguard action.
This World Cup match between Argentina and Croatia will be played on Dec 13, 2022 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Argentina vs Croatia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
