Dark horses see light at the end of the tunnel as world cup glory looms

Luka Modric and Harry Kane will be the two key men for their respective teams in their bid to reach the final

With a win on Wednesday, Croatia will make national history by reaching their first ever final after matching the result of the 1998 squad by reaching the semi-finals of the Fifa World Cup.

Croatia's road to the knockout stages has been one of the stories of the tournament as they topped their group ahead of Lionel Messi's Argentina, even routing the Argentines 3-0, in a group which could easily gone wrong as Iceland and Nigeria posed a credible threat.

Croatia managed to overcome through a combination of good teamwork, better tactics and as well as their best players stepping up when needed.

Of course, it helps when your two best players ply their trade with the two best teams in the world. Barcelona's Ivan Rakitić and Real Madrid's Luka Modrić have done a great job in keeping things ticking and will be pivotal to proceedings going up against a relatively untested England.

Ivan Perisić, Mario Mandzukić and Andre Kramarić will also give the Three Lions a few more things to consider.

However, despite all that England will fancy their chances as Croatia have failed to win a knockout game in regular time. In their last two matches Croatia have had to overcome both Denmark and Russia via the lottery of penalties. While this displays a strong mentality, playing back-to-back games into extra time and penalties can take its toll.

Even though England are a work in progress, fatigue setting in for Croatia could swing the match their way. 

Ready to take advantage of this will be the much maligned Raheem Sterling who on his day can be a handful and his pace serves as a diversion which frees up space for England's other attack options.

Harry Kane has six goals so far in this world cup and a couple against Croatia will be on his checklist to further etch his name in English football lore in leading England to the final.

Whatsmore, England go into Wednesday knowing a win will get them one step closer to ending their 52 year wait for the World Cup and finally bringing football home.