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Semi-Finalist of FIFA Football World Cup 2018

Semi Finalist of FIFA Football World Cup 2018

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is the 21st FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament contested by the men’s national teams of the member associations of FIFA once every four years. It is currently ongoing in Russia starting from 14th June and will end with the final match on 15th July 2018.

This is the first World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe, and the eleventh time that it has been held in Europe. For the first time, the tournament takes place on two continents – Europe and Asia. All of the stadium venues are in Western Russia. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it is the most expensive World Cup ever. This is also the first World Cup where video assistant referees (VARs) have been utilized.

The final tournament involves 32 national teams, which include 31 teams determined through qualifying competitions and the automatically qualified host team. Of the 32 teams, 20 made back-to-back appearances following the last tournament in 2014, including defending champions Germany, while both Iceland and Panama made their first appearances at a FIFA World Cup. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final will take place on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Semi-Finalist of FIFA Football World Cup 2018:

France, Belgium, Croatia, and England

France national football team:

The France national football team represents France in international football and is controlled by the French Football Federation, also known as FFF, or in French: Fédération française de football. The team’s colors are blue, white and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol. France is colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues).

France plays home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, and the manager is Didier Deschamps. They have won one FIFA World Cup, two UEFA European Championships, an Olympic tournament, and two FIFA Confederations Cups. France experienced much of its success in three major eras: in the 1950s, 1980s, and late 1990s/early 2000s respectively, which resulted in numerous major honors. France was one of the four European teams that participated in the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and, although having been eliminated in the qualification stage six times, is one of only three teams that have entered every World Cup qualifying cycle.

In 1958, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, finished in third place at the FIFA World Cup. In 1984, France, led by Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini, won UEFA Euro 1984.

Under the leadership of Didier Deschamps and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, France won the FIFA World Cup in 1998. Two years later, the team triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. France won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003 and reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup final, which it lost 5–3 on penalties to Italy. The team also reached the final of UEFA Euro 2016, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time.

France was the first national team that has won the three most important men’s titles recognized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic tournament after victory in the Confederations Cup in 2001. Since 2001, Argentina (after 2004 Olympics) and Brazil (after 2016 Olympics) are the other two national teams that have won these three titles. They have also won their respective continental championship (Copa América for Argentina and Brazil, and UEFA European Championship for France)

Belgium national football team:

The Belgian national football team has officially represented Belgium in association football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which was co-founded by the Belgian team’s supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA). Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium’s home games are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Belgium’s national team have participated in three quadrennial major football competitions. It appeared in the end stages of thirteen FIFA World Cups and five UEFA European Championships, and featured at three Olympic football tournaments, including the 1920 Olympic tournament which they won. Other notable performances are victories over four reigning world champions—West Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and France—between 1954 and 2002. Belgium has long-standing football rivalries with its Dutch and French counterparts, having played both teams nearly every year from 1905 to 1967. The squad has been known as the Red Devils since 1906; its fan club is named “1895”.

During the national player career of forwarding Paul Van Himst, the most-praised Belgian footballer of the 20th century, Belgium took third place at Euro 1972. After that, they experienced two golden ages with many gifted players. In the first period, which lasted from the 1980s to the early 1990s, the team finished as runners-up at Euro 1980 and fourth in the 1986 World Cup. In the second, under the guidance of Marc Wilmots in the 2010s, Belgium topped the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in November 2015. Belgium qualified for the ongoing 2018 World Cup, and will thereafter participate in League A of the first UEFA Nations League edition.

Croatia national football team:

The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the nation’s governing body of football. A FIFA-sanctioned national side previously represented the short-lived Banovina of Croatia and the Independent State of Croatia in nineteen friendly matches between 1940 and 1944. This team was dissolved in 1945 as Croatia became a constituent federal republic of SFR Yugoslavia and was thus ineligible to field a separate team for competitive matches. Up until 1990, local players instead played for the Yugoslavia national football team.

The modern Croatian team was formed in 1990, shortly before the nation’s independence from Yugoslavia, and by 1993 was recognized by both FIFA and UEFA. The team played its first competitive matches in the successful qualifying campaign for Euro 1996, leading to its first appearance at a major tournament. In Croatia’s FIFA World Cup debut in 1998, the team finished third and provided the tournament’s top scorer, Davor Šuker. Since becoming eligible to compete in international tournaments, Croatia has failed to qualify for only one World Cup (in 2010) and one European Championship (in 2000). In 2018, Croatia made the World Cup semifinals for the second time.

Most home matches are played at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, with some fixtures also taking place at the Poljud Stadium in Split or at other smaller venues, such as Kantrida Stadium in Rijeka or Gradski Vrt in Osijek. The team was undefeated in its first 36 competitive home matches at Maksimir, the run ending with a heavy defeat to England in September 2008. The team’s traditional nickname is Vatreni (“The Blazers”).

Croatia was named FIFA’s “Best Mover of the Year” in 1994 and 1998, the only team—along with Colombia—to win the award more than once. Upon admission to FIFA, Croatia was ranked 125th in the world; following the 1998 World Cup campaign, the side rose to third place in the rankings, making it the most volatile team in FIFA Rankings history

England national football team:

The England national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England.

England is one of the two oldest national teams in football, alongside Scotland, who they played in the world’s first international football match in 1872. England’s home ground is Wembley Stadium, London, and their headquarters are at St George’s Park, Burton upon Trent. The team’s manager is Gareth Southgate. Although part of the United Kingdom, England has always had a representative side that plays in major professional tournaments, though not in the Olympic Games, as the IOC has always recognized United Kingdom representative sides.

Since first entering the tournament in 1950, England has qualified for the FIFA World Cup fifteen times. They won the 1966 World Cup, when they hosted the finals, and finished fourth in 1990. Since first entering in 1964, England has never won the UEFA European Championship – after fourteen attempts over fifty-two years – with their best performances being semi-finals appearances at the 1968 and 1996 Championships, the latter of which they hosted.

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