The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn. The World Cup has reached its final leg as the four Russian roulette survivors are setting their sights on the coveted silverware designed by a certain Silvio Gazzaniga. With none of the Latin Americans making it to the last four – for the first time since 2006 – the 2018 FIFA World Cup has been reduced to an all-European affair. Quite interestingly, each of the semifinals has a team that never won the cup before locking horns with a past champion.

The much-anticipated first semifinal will be played between 1998 winners France and Belgium. Roberto Martinez’s side not only knocked out Neymar’s Brazil but also won each of their games in the tournament, including a group league win over England and a scary last gasp victory over an indomitable Japan in the second round. Belgium’s goal-machine Romelu Lukaku has already netted four goals while skipper Eden Hazard turned out to be quite hazardous for his rivals with his sublime form. 

The magnificent midfield, featuring Kevin De Bruyne, Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini have been doing great but the Belgians have been quite consistent in terms of conceding goals as well, even though a towering Thibaut Courtois has saved the Belgians on a few occasions.

On the other hand, France’s 1998 World Cup winning captain Didier Deschamps, knows very well what it takes to win the coveted title and has been coaching his team well to put them on the right track so far. If Kylian Mbappe has been a revelation for the rainbow French side, Paul Pogba seems to have left behind his lackluster season with his club, Manchester United, and has been masterly marshaling the French midfield. Antoine Griezmann has been quite meticulous in exploiting the opportunities in scoring goals while N’Golo Kante has been consistently but quite inconspicuously snatching the midfield control from his opponents in regular intervals. 

One of the positive aspects of this young French team is their defenders like Benjamin Pavard and Raphael Varane that have already found their names in the scoring sheet like their predecessors Lilian Thuram and Laurent Blanc did during their triumphant 1998 campaign. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was simply spectacular against Uruguay but the three goals France conceded against Argentina may continue to open the chinks in their armor.

Is the Cup finally coming home? Well, a diminutive Luka Modric is standing between the cup and the lip as an upbeat England are taking on the mighty Croatians in the second semifinal. Gareth Southgate’s side has already exorcised the tie-breaker ghost of the 1996 Euro but still they have to cross the Balkan mountain before following in Bobby Moore’s footsteps. The former England defender’s young team is looking as sharp as his already popular waistcoat. 

Captain Harry Kane has been leading the young side from the front and he has turned out to be a hurricane when it comes to demolishing his opponents. His six goals in the tournament so far have made him the hot favorite to win the "Golden Boot" while he has been well supported by the likes of Raheem Stirling, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Jordan Pickford under the bar. Unlike the previous World Cup finals, the Three Lions started this edition without much hype in their domestic media and continued to grow stronger. 

Although they faltered against group-toppers Belgium, but their strong performance in the tie-breaker against Colombia and the subsequent easy quarterfinal win over Sweden have surely raised some hopes for a repeat of the epic triumph by Sir Alf Ramsey’s "Wingless wonders" in 1966. However, England’s biggest cause for concern against a skillful Croatian side would be their inability to score too many field goals as most of their goals have come either via penalty or other dead ball situations like free-kicks and corners.

The Croats, however, have been consistent and held their nerves of steel to win the key games at the key moments, including their back to back tie-breaker wins against Denmark and Russia. Their convincing three-goal win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina highlighted both their class and strength and an in-form Luka Modric as the fulcrum of a formidable midfield has certainly given them the edge against an inexperienced England. 

Apart from Modric, the presence of Ivan Rakitic, Mario Mandzukic, Milan Badelj, Mateo Kovasic and goalkeeper Danijel Subasic have made the squad a formidable force and Zlatko Dali’s boys will leave no stone unturned to overcome the heartbreak of 1998 when the Croats came agonizingly close to winning their semifinal match against France before finishing third.