Croatia hopes to become the second nation in history to defeat both Brazil and Argentina in the World Cup's final rounds.
That was accomplished in 2014 when Germany defeated the tournament's hosts, Brazil, 7-1 in the semifinals before Mario Gotze's extra-time winner kept Argentina out of the championship game. In the quarterfinals in Qatar, Croatia pulled off their own surprise by coming back from a goal down in extra time and eliminating Brazil on penalties.
The 2018 runners-up will become just the fourth European nation in history to reach back-to-back World Cup finals if they pull off another unexpected victory against Argentina in the semifinals, after Italy (1934, 1938), the Netherlands (1974, 1978) and Germany (1982, 1986, 1990). Defending champions France could, of course, quickly become the fifth country to join that club with victory over Morocco in Wednesday's second semi-final.