Argentina and Croatia meet in the 2022 World Cup semifinal, knowing a spot in the title match is on the line.One of these teams was expected to be here, but the other one was not.The Albiceleste came into the World Cup as second-favorites to win the tournament, behind only fellow CONMEBOL foes Brazil. The tournament seemed destined to pit the two South American rivals against each other in this semifinal, but Croatia spoiled the party by downing Brazil on penalties in the quarterfinal. The 2018 finalists are aiming to reach their second-straight title match, after falling just short at the hands of France four years ago.Now, Luka Modric and company will hope to do the same to Lionel Me si and Argentina, who escaped with a penalty shootout win over the Netherlands in their quarterfinal despite a late capitulation that nearly doomed their World Cup hopes as well.Me si, likely in his last FIFA World Cup, is once again putting his nation on his shoulders in the hopes of reaching a summit that neither he nor chief rival Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to crest.MORE: Despite Croatia's tactical mastercla s against Brazil in the last round, Cole Beasley Jersey Argentina are still considered heavy favorites in this semifinal match.Even more so, however, is the indication that sports books expect a lack of goals in this game, with the under swung ma sively in its favor and the "no" option on both teams to score given a huge advantage as well. This despite the quarterfinal games featuring these two teams featuring a combined six goals and no clean sheets.SkyBetLadbrokesArgentina win-1151.8917/2010/11Draw+2253.2523/1011/5Croatia win+3604.3018/57/2Both teamsto score Y / N+115/ -1652.20 / 1.531/1, 8/1111/10, 4/6Over / Under2.5 goals+135 / -1902.41 / 1.555/4, 4/711/8, 8/15Argentina -0.5-1251.89Croatia +0.5-1151.90Argentina advance-2501.452/52/5Croatia advance+1802.567/417/10 Argentina vs Croatia team newsInjury news for Argentina vs CroatiaThe fitne s ofAngel Di Mariawill be the biggest question ahead of this match for Argentina. The 34-year-old winger was utilized only as a late punt at the Brandin Bryant Jersey death against the Netherlands as he looked to recover from a muscle i sue suffered at the end of the Round of 16 game against Australia.Rodrigo de Paulwas an injury worry ahead of the Netherlands game but he proved fit to start.Croatia have no injury worries to speak of heading into this match.Mateo Kovacicwas a worry before the quarterfinal match after a facial injury during a gym se sion, but he was fit to start.Nikola Vlasichad a muscle injury in the group stage but has recovered, whileMarcelo Brozovichas recovered from his pre-tournament hamstring i sue to be a key part of the Croatia midfield.Yellow cards accumulated to this point are wiped in the semifinal, so no players can be suspended for the World Cup final due to accumulation. Only players sent off in the semifinal would be at risk for a suspension in the final.Players suspended for Argentina vs Croatia due to yellow card accumulationNationPlayer suspendedCard 1Card 2ArgentinaMarcos AcunaGroup Stage vs. POL, 49'Quarterfinal vs. NED, 43'ArgentinaGonzalo MontielGroup Stage vs. MEX, 43'Quarterfinal vs. NED, 106'CroatiaNONELIVE: Argentina vs Croatia key statsDo-it-all Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic is the only player with at least 10 tackles won and at least 5 chances createdin the 2022 World Cup.Lionel Me si has created 16 chances in the 2022 World Cup, second-most of any player behind only Antoine Griezmann's 17. Nobody else in the entire tournament field has more than 11, and nobody on Croatia has more than five.Me si's six goal contributions this World Cup are second only to Kylian Mbappe's seven. Despite trailing by one, Me si has accumulated 5.03 expected goals + expected a sists to Mbappe's 4.01.Argentina Buffalo Bills Accessories vs Croatia match factsDate:Tuesday, December 13Kickoff Time:2:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm GMT / 6:00 am AEDT (Wed, Dec. 14)Location:Lusail IconicStadiumOfficial:Daniele Orsato (Italy) Moneyline lean:Draw(+240)Against the spread lean:Croatia +0.5 (-110)Score prediction:Argentina 0-0 CroatiaAfter the way Croatia played against Brazil, it's hard to see why they can't muster the same performance against a similar opponent in Argentina.Croatia's midfield played defense via po se sion against Brazil, with Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric, and Mateo Kovacic producing a mastercla s. That would be a winning formula against Argentina as well as they hope to cut off the line-breaking pa ses that Argentina love to deliver.Croatia have managed to reach extra-time in five of their last six World Cup knockout matches, only failing to do so in the 4-2 defeat to France in the 2018 final. Argentina do not look inspired in the final third, and seeing as they'll mi s a few players due to yellow card suspensions, Croatia could do Buffalo Bills T Shirts the busine s again here with a pragmatic performance.Picking against Dominik Livakovic in a penalty shootout may seem foolish, but Emi Martinez was just as good in his shootout performance against the Netherlands, and the Argentine takers seemed confident and collected when they stepped up to hit. Pick:Under 7.5 cornersOdds:+142( )This is going to be a cagey affair, and while it's hard to know exactly who will finish on top, it's definitely looking like corners will not play a major role in how this match is resolved. Neither team likes to rack up corners, except when absolutely desperate.Argentina finished with eight corners against the Netherlands, but a whopping seven of those came in extra time, and this is a regulation bet. Croatia, meanwhile, collected just three corners through Marquez Stevenson Jersey the 120 minutes of their quarterfinal, while conceding only five to their opponents Brazil in regulation, an extremely low number considering Brazil lead the World Cup in corners.The early even-money total on corners appears to be 8.5, but if we bump it down to 7.5 the odds swing even more in our favor.Argentina vs Croatia prop betPick:1H under 0.5 goalsOdds:+115( )While this match is likely to be cagey, the first half will be even more of a war, as it has been all tournament long.Argentina and Croatia have combined for just 6.26 expected goals this World Cup through the first halves of their 10 total matches played. After the break, they open up to the tune of 8.5 combined xG. If focusing on just the knockout stage, the disparity is just as stark the two sides combine for 1.5 xG in the first half, while putting together 3.2 in the second half