World Cup 2018: 2 predictions for the semi-final encounters

Get Ready for a swash buckling final week of the 2018 FIFA World Cup as we now only have 4 teams, the 4 best teams of the tournament left with a chance to lift the trophy on Sunday.

By defeating Uruguay, Brazil, Russia and Sweden respectively in their quarter-final showdowns - the teams from France, Belgium, Croatia and England have earned a well deserved place in the semi-finals of the biggest football event.

The tournament has now entered the penultimate stage, and it is now nearly impossible to predict which team will prevail and which team will not. Each team has played well in the past 3 weeks, hence each one of them have even a slight chance of entering the finals and leaving with the title.

Who will win the two semi finals and make it to the final? Only time will tell, but till then - here are the predictions for both semi-final matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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#1 France vs Belgium

France is now the favourite to win the World Cup

The first semi-final showdown will feature two teams who defeated two former World champions and title contenders - Uruguay and Brazil in their quarter-final matches.

There is a very strong chance that we might even get our World Cup Champion for 2018 from either of these two teams, especially when you consider how good these two teams have performed so far in this edition.

Courtesy of some exceptional attack and an even better defensive play, France not only gave Uruguay, their first loss of the tournament but they also broke the mighty Uruguayan defense, which had only given away 1 goal till that match. Belgium on the other hand breezed past the cup favourites Brazil in convincing fashion to book a place in the semi-finals.

Based on current performance and the history of the World Cup, it becomes abundantly clear that France are now the favourites to win their second World Cup. It won't be easy for them to tackle the Belgian attack, but in the end France will enter their third World Cup final in 20 years.

Prediction: France win

#2 Croatia vs England

It is about time England enters its 2nd World Cup Final

On the other side of these twin blockbuster clashes is the contest between two teams that were not on anyone's favourite list before the start of the tournament, but slowly developed into title contenders courtesy of their phenomenal play - Croatia vs England.

Both teams are appearing in the semi finals after more than 20 years, with Croatia last appearing in 1998 and England in 1990, both will be looking to make history by making it to the finals as dark horses.

Croatia had their hands full in their quarter-final match against Russia. Going down to the penalty shoot outs, the match was probably the most closely fought of the tournament which ended Russia's dream run courtesy some impeccable glove work by Danijel Subasic. Their SF opponents on the other hand had a rather easy 2-0 win over Sweden.

It has been 52 years since England made it to the Finals of a World Cup, and now is probably their best opportunity since they are at the top of their game. Croatia have been good so far, but they need a lot more to upstage England in the semi-finals.

This could lead to a match between France and England in the final. Seriously, can it get any better than this?

Prediction: England win