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Throughout the Soccer World Cup, the performance of the French national team was increasing. After a tight 2-1 victory in their Group C debut against Australia, the Deschamps-led squad won the standings against Peru on the second day by winning 1-0 and drawing a goalless draw against Denmark on the final day. In the final phase, Les Blues began to shape their offensive potential on the court with a convincing 4-3 against Argentina in the round of 16 and the subsequent 2-0 against Uruguay in the quarterfinals. Against Belgium he did not have much left over and got a win by the minimum that positioned him in the grand final of the Football World Cup. A very solid team in all its lines, had Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane as caudillos of the defense, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté as midfield thermometers and with an explosive attack that had as protagonists Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé.

Only 9 minutes and 12 seconds is the time in which the Europeans were losing throughout the World Cup and was in a lapse of the match with Argentina. Leaving aside that short period of time, France gave plenty of evidence of its conditions and is planted in the final as the favorite to return to take the World Cup just 20 years after its last conquest

There are no institutional or leadership arguments that explain the arrival of the Croatian national team at the end of the world. Dalic has only 13 games in command of this team, he took over less than a year ago and, however, he channeled in a short time a team that was very close to not qualifying for the World Cup. Without time to launch a project, Croatia took refuge in the good performance of its players to compete at the highest level. Talents like Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic were enough for this team to make their way to their first final of the World Cup and be the big surprise.

The road started with a 2-0 against Nigeria and continued with a 3-0 win over Argentina and with the finishing touch in Group D, which was 2-1 to Iceland. In the final phase, Croatia suffered more than any other team: they won on penalties to Denmark in the round of 16 and in the same way to Russia in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal he beat England 2-1 in extra time, to achieve the feat. Being the first team in the history of the World Cup that exceeds three elongates in the same edition of the tournament, Croatia bets on its courage and its talent to repeat the formula of success and elaborate a consecrating triumph.

In the grand final of the FIFA World Cup, France and Croatia will lower the curtain of the 21st edition of the World Cup. The referee of the match will be in charge of the Argentine Néstor Pitana, who was already the referee in four World Cup matches in Russia.

The history of direct confrontations between these teams reveals five clashes, of which France won three, Croatia none and a pair ended in a draw.

In a tight match of quarterfinals, the Croatians equalized against Russia in one in the 90 minutes and had to dispute the extension. The 2-2 at the end of the extension determined that everything was decided by penalties, instance in which the selection by Zlatko Dalic was imposed to qualify for the semifinals. For the first time since 1998, Croatia was once again among the best four teams in the Soccer World Cup. A roster of great individual talents in good form, such as Luka Modric and Ivan Ratikic, took the European team to the forefront of the world. The surprise in Russia started in the group stage, when they were first in their area beating Argentina and eliminating Nigeria and Iceland. In the round of 16 they beat Denmark, also on penalties, for, after imposing themselves on the host, advance to the semifinals.

The national team in charge of Gareth Southgate qualified for the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup after beating Sweden 2-0 in the final phase. Previously he had beaten Colombia on penalty kicks in the round of 16. In their zone of groups the English were second, behind Belgium and above Tunisia and Panama. England has a team of great individual talents who, despite their young age, are carrying the burden of leading their national team to be one of the firm candidates for the World Cup. Since 1996, when they hosted the Cup, the Three Lions never won the tournament again. Entrusted to a project that already paid off in youth teams and that has Southgate as the main architect, England dreams of returning to be world champion.

In this analysis we consider that England will be able to impose itself to return to play a final in the Football World Cup. The team that runs Southgate comes from qualifying more comfortably in the quarterfinals and also in the previous rounds. In addition, it has a team with players of greater renown and talent than its rival.

The former French attacker Henry - the world champion in 1998 with the French side - is part of the Belgian coaching staff. France and Belgium will clash on Tuesday to define who will play the Football World Cup final on July 15.

Both squads have been quite solid throughout the championship and have a particular history of clashes between them.

Both teams are candidates to win the tournament, a favoritism that goes back to before the start of the competition. And with the running of the parties, they have ratified that status. France comes from eliminating Argentina and Uruguay, while Belgium beat Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Giroud said his team knows Belgium very well. Both teams have several players competing in the Premier League, including himself.

Giroud stressed that France has the talent and experience to break down the Belgian defensive "wall" around goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

This will be the 74th confrontation in history between France and Belgium; the French have won 24, while the Belgians have won 30 wins (19 draws). Excluding friendlies, France and Belgium have not faced each other since the 1986 Soccer World Cup, when the Gauls prevailed 4-2 in the match for third place.

France have won their two World Cup matches against Belgium; 3-1 in 1938 (1st Round) and 4-2 in the match for third place in 1986. Belgium defeated France 4-3 the last time they met, in a friendly played in Paris in 2015.

It is that Croatia has been solid during this Football World Cup, where it faced hard opponents like Argentina and knew how to prevail without problems. And in spite of the fact that in the last 16 it was complicated against Denmark, they knew how to prevail and show the good game that has it among the favorite teams to fight this Soccer World Cup.

The locals have managed to make history in this FIFA World Cup, since 1994, the year in which they start to play like this type of tournaments, this is their best historic performance and they want to fight to keep improving.

Russia wants to keep surprising in its World Cup, while Croatia will try to show why it is a candidate. There are fewer teams left in this surprising World Cup and in the Quarter Finals Russia and Croatia will face each other to be among the best four. The match will be this Saturday in Sochi.

Russia and Croatia come from a dramatic penalty shootout after playing 120 minutes. The host country surprisingly eliminated Spain and the Croats managed to overcome the wall established by Denmark.

Croatia was tired against Denmark, at times it was a team waiting for attacks from the Danes, but when they proposed they were thrown on offense to do damage. The Croatians were able to equalize the early goal of their rivals and maintained mental strength after Modric failed a penalty in the 11th minute. Croatia is unbeaten in its last 8 games and in the three matches it has had against Russia, of which 2 they finished in a draw and the last one won 3 to 2.

Sweden secured top spot in Group F with a comprehensive three-goal victory over Mexico, benefiting from the shock capitulation of reigning champions Germany. The 1958 finalists dispatched Switzerland in the Last 16 with a closely fought victory by virtue of a deflected strike from Emil Forsberg, to make the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1994.

England started their campaign with assured victories over Tunisia and Panama, before succumbing to defeat against Belgium after resting several key players. The 1966 champions, captained by Golden Boot leader Harry Kane, conquered the persistence of Colombia in the Last 16 with his first penalty shoot-out victory in a major tournament since 1996.

Sweden and England have met on 23 previous occasions, securing seven wins apiece. Both World Cup meetings in Korea / Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 ended in draws.

English football is very popular in the Scandinavian countries, but the Swedes will not be intimidated when they face a team full of Premier League stars who beat Colombia on penalties on Tuesday after drawing 1-1.

Emil Forsberg, whose goal meant Sweden's move to the quarters of a Football World Cup for the first time since 1994 when he was in third place, says that for his part he will continue to complicate whoever he faces.

The Swedes have traditionally been a tough opponent for England, who spent 43 years without winning the Scandinavians from 1968 to 2011. England coach Gareth Southgate said they were underestimated in the past. After suffocating the Swiss with their defensive style, the Swedes are unlikely to change their tactics that took them to the top-eight stage, and the fact that England is a favorite does not bother them.

The French soccer team arrives after defeating Argentina in the round of 16 of Football World Cup with a brilliant performance by their young star Kylian Mbappé, who scored on a couple of occasions and caused the penalty that opened the scoring.

Likewise, they arrive as one of the favorites to win everything, thanks to their combination of youth, experience and talent, with which they hope to surpass one of the two remaining South American squads. It will be interesting to follow the performance of Antoine Griezmann, who has appeared at times of pressure during this tournament, but has a history of failing at important moments.

For its part, Uruguay arrives with the doubt of Edinson Cavani. The "Matador" scored a pair of goals with which the "Celeste" won the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo, but he got hurt from the game and it is not known for sure if he will be ready, although everything seems to point that he will not be.

It should be noted that the South American team has only received one goal in all the competition and maintains a perfect record like France, however, the Europeans have had more problems to keep the zero in their arc.

The eleven-year-old Colombian suffered and at times was confused before a strong and fast Senegal, but finally won 1-0 and was classified as leader of group H with 6 points thanks to the defeat by the same scoreboard of Japan against the Poles. With that score, there are already 8 online matches scoring in a FIFA World Cup (Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018).

The South Americans have a good record and that is the hand of Jose Pekerman have not lost against European teams. There are 8 commitments played for a balance of 6 wins and 2 draws. It is noteworthy that in this Football World Cup has tied twice and won 1 time the first time.

The box "pross" comes from being defeated 1-0 against Belgium by the third date of group F, which relegated him to the 2nd position with 6 points and with a streak of, at least, a goal against in each game who has played in Russia. To date, England would be in the 13th position in the FIFA ranking and with Harry Keane fighting the gold spoils (he is the current scorer with 5 goals).

The pupils of coach Gareth Southgate (who was part of the payroll that beat Colombia 2-0 in France 1998), demonstrated their offensive power with 8 goals in the first 2 dates of the group (75% in the first half), and now they hope to continue keeping it to dream of the 2nd world title in its history. It should be noted that when England starts winning a match, it ends with 3 points in 88% of the cases.

The Swiss team, from the hand of Shaqiri and the '10' Xhaka destabilizing, will seek to continue without defeats so far in the Soccer World Cup.

The debut match, which ended in a draw against Brazil, served to tell the world that they were up for great things. In the next match, the Swiss became strong in Group E when they beat Serbia 2-1 in a close match. For the third day, they tied with Costa Rica 2-2, but they managed to qualify to eighths.

On Tuesday 3, in Saint Petersburg, Switzerland will try to reach the quarterfinals, an achievement that is not achieved since the 1954 Football World Cup, organized in their lands.

The Swedish squad finished first in the group F. This achievement surprised the sports critic, because, a priori, Mexicans and Germans had the favoritism to access eighths. The Swedes were able to climb to the top spot thanks to their strength in defense and lethal counterattacks.

Sweden's remarkable campaign in the group stage began with a tight 1-0 victory against South Korea. Although in the second game he fell to Germany, in the third, against Mexico, he gave the world a surprise by winning 3-0.

After a changing group phase and with many surprises, the Belgian team qualified for the finals of the Football World Cup as the best of all. Only three national teams won the nine possible points in the first stage: Belgium, Croatia and Uruguay. By his difference of favorable goal in seven so many, the selected one that prepares the Spanish Roberto Martinez was first in this general table.

 In their debut they beat Panama 3-0 and then beat Tunisia 5-2 and England 1-0. For being first they were in the most complicated part of the picture, although the Europeans did not speculate and showed that they will win against any circumstance. Belgium has a squad with players of great hierarchy and great individualities that position it as the great favorite for their crossing in the last eight.

Far from the great present of his rival, the Japanese team entered the second round of the Soccer World Cup as the second worst in the general table. Only four points added in the three dates of the group stage allowed the team in charge of Akira Nishino to qualify for the finals. After beating Colombia 2-1 in the debut and equaling with Senegal 2-2 later, the definition against Poland was infamous. Japan lost 1-0, but as the Senegalese fell to Colombia everything was decided by the Fair Play. Having received fewer cards against during the World Cup, the Asians advanced phase in Russia. Ranked among the best 16 in a World Cup for the third time in its history, Japan is going for the feat against all odds.

In the round of 16 of the World Cup, Belgium and Japan will be measured in Rostov in a match  to direct elimination.

In this analysis we consider that Belgium will be able to impose itself to get into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. The results of the first phase and the hierarchy superiority of the players of the European team make an easy victory in their favor.