Croatia's Ivana Knoll kisses World Cup goodbye after Argentina loss (2024)

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Croatian model Ivana Knoll went to their World Cup semi-final against Argentina on Tuesday - but the European nation kissed away their chance of making the final, losing 3-0 at the Lusail Stadium.

Knoll, 30, has caused a stir around Qatar throughout the tournament for wearing racy outfits which conflict with the country's more conservative approach to female clothing.

However, Croatia's attempts to make a second successive final were undone by a Lionel Messi penalty and a brace by Julian Alvarez.

Despite rumours that she would be banned from attending the semi-final clash, she was photographed in the stands a good hour before the 10pm kick-off in Qatar's second-largest city.

She wore a tight-fitting red and checked top and an oversized hat, as she and her fellow fans soaked up the atmosphere ahead of a hotly-anticipated semi-final.

Knoll, a former finalist in the hunt for Miss Croatia 2016, was seen posing with a Mexican fan who had adopted the European country after his own country's group stage exit.

Ahead of Croatia's World Cup quarter-final against Brazil on Friday, stadium security tried to stop Knoll from posing for photographs withfans- something which it appears they did not attempt on Tuesday.

It was previously claimed by some people in Qatar that people were only photographing Knoll because of the way they disapproved of her outfit, instead of seeing their snaps as a sign of adoration for the scantily-dressed 30-year-old.

Qatar's usual modesty laws urges women to cover their shoulders, whilst Knoll's shoulders were exposed in Lusail.

The 5'11 star amassed over 2.6 million fans on Instagram as a consequence of her exploits in Qatar, garnering fans across the world for her stance and unwavering support of Luka Modric's Croatia.

Croatia emerged second from Group F, behind surprise package Morocco but ahead of Belgium and Canada, to make it to the knockout stages.

They won two penalty shootouts to progress to the semi-finals for a second World Cup in succession. The 2018 runners-up narrowly edged out Japan 3-1 in a shootout in the round-of-16, before defeating tournament favourites Brazil 4-2 in spot-kicks at the end of Friday's quarter-final.

However, this time around, they fell at the semi-final stage to a Messi-inspired Argentina.

It is not the end of Croatia's time in Qatar, as they will face the loser of Wednesday's second semi-final between France and Morocco in Saturday's third-place play-off.

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