LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A watch party for today's Croatia-England 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinal game will be held at St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church in Chinatown.
The 11 a.m. Fox telecast of the game from Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow will also be shown on a movie-size screen at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills and on a big screen at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. Admission is free at both venues.
A viewing party organized by Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Football Club will be held at The Garage featuring the Motor Club restaurant and sports bar in Palms.
England will be playing in a semifinal for the first time since 1990 and third time in its 15 World Cup appearances. It has won once in the semifinals -- in 1966 when it was the tournament host and won the championship.
Croatia will be playing in a semifinal for the second time since first becoming eligible for World Cup for the 1998 tournament. Its other semifinal appearance came in 1998 when it lost to host and eventual champion France, 2-1.
Both of Croatia's victories during the knockout stage have come in penalty kick shootouts. Croatia defeated Russia, 4-3, in a penalty kick shootout in a quarterfinal Saturday after overtime ended in a 2-2 tie. It won a penalty kick shootout against Denmark, 3-2, July 1 after overtime ended in a 1- 1 tie in a round of 16 game.
England defeated Sweden 2-0 in a quarterfinal Saturday and Colombia, 4- 3, in a penalty kick shootout after overtime ended in a 1-1 tie in a round of 16 game July 3.
Croatia was among three teams to complete group play undefeated and untied, along with Belgium and Uruguay. Its plus-six goal differential was the second-best of group play behind Belgium's plus-seven.
Croatia was among four teams, along with Denmark, to allow one goal in group play, tying for second behind Uruguay, which shut out all three of its opponents.
The team's seven goals were the fourth-most in group play behind Belgium, which had nine, and England and Russia, which each scored eight.
England was second in Group G behind Belgium with a 2-1 record.
Croatian defender Dejan Lovren is teammates with England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and midfielder Jordan Henderson with Liverpool of the English Premier League.
England is 12th in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer's international governing body. Croatia is ranked 20th.
England is known as The Three Lions from the emblem of King Richard I which is on its jersey. All of England's players play in England, the only team in the tournament where all the players play in the team's home nation.
Croatia is known as Vatreni, meaning The Blazers. Croatia's roster consists of six players who play for club teams in Italy, four each in Germany and Spain, two in Croatia and one each in Austria, Belgium, England, France, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The winner will advance to Sunday's World Cup final against France, a 1-0 winner over Belgium in a semifinal Tuesday. The loser will play in Saturday's third-place game against Belgium.
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