England vs. Croatia: Gareth Southgate Urges Team To Create History

England are looking to create history when they take on Croatia in the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia on Wednesday and make the final for the first time since 1966 — the last time they won the cup.

It is the first time in 28 years that they made the last four with the previous visit coming during the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The Three Lions have impressed during the tournament despite not being among the favorites to make the latter stages of the event.

Gareth Southgate brought a young team to Russia having picked every player based on merit after their performances for their respective clubs last season. Apart from their loss to Belgium in the Group Stages, they have impressed in every single game and will now take on Croatia for a chance to face France in the final on Sunday.

The Three Lions’ opponents will also be looking to make history by making it to their first ever final and have shown that they are willing to take on the big teams without any fear. Zlatko Dalic’s men qualified top of the group that included one of the pre-tournament favorites Argentina, whom they beat 3-0 in their second match of the tournament.

They have since defeated Denmark and hosts Russia on penalties to make it to the last four. England on the other hand defeated Colombia on penalties in the last 16, but recorded a convincing 2-0 win over Sweden in the quarter-finals.

England are likely to start the game as slight favorites, but Southgate warned his team that Croatia will provide their hardest challenge of the tournament thus far. Dalic’s team is packed with quality led by Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, while they also possess the talents of Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic and Mario Madzukic, who can change the outcome of a game with their quality.

"They'll be the best team we've played in terms of what they're capable of doing with the ball, and what their individuals are capable of, definitely,” Southgate said ahead of the game on Wednesday, as quoted on Sky Sports. "For us as a team, it's another chance to create a small piece of history.”

"We've got to keep getting over those hurdles and I know we talked about the success of the younger teams but this is a much harder, much bigger level for the players and the belief is building as things are happening."

"The more of these tests we can come through, the better, not just for now, but moving forward,” the England coach added.

Meanwhile, Harry Kane looks favorite to win the Golden Boot and cement his place as one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. The Englishman has six goals thus far and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku is his closest challenger with four goals.

The Belgian has the third and fourth place match to play after having succumbed to France in the first semi-final on Tuesday, but, Kane will be keen to cement his position when he takes on Croatia on Wednesday.