Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, where the match is being played, has a capacity of 80,000, so England supporters will find themselves heavily outnumbered by Croatian fans as well as by Russians who are expected to be in the majority.
With their own bitter memories of past semi-final defeats in the soccer tournament, England and Croatia will be competing for a spot in Sunday's final against France.
The dearth of England supporters means chants of soccer anthem "Three Lions" and its catchy chorus "It's coming home" may be hard to discern in Moscow despite a last-minute dash to the Russian capital by some supporters.
"What's shocked me most about this is how England fans are so outnumbered," said Matt Hardwick, 42, who said he had paid 1,700 pounds ($2,247.23) for his ticket to the game.
"They're outnumbering us 10 to 1," he said, referring to Croatian fans.
FEARS
Fears of violence and racism ahead of the World Cup, bolstered by memories of clashes between England and Russia fans Marseille during the European Championship in France in 2016, may have put supporters off travel to Russia for the tournament.
Numbers have also seemingly been kept down by diplomatic tensions over the poisoning of a Russian former double-agent and his daughter in Salisbury in March, and now the death of a woman who police say was poisoned with the same nerve agent.
"We've been having a really good time so far... You feel really safe and secure, as opposed to before we came out, nobody knew what to expect. That's why there haven't been many England fans here," said Mark Jowsey, 46, a butcher from Newcastle.
In central Moscow one England fan climbed up a lamp post to lead chants from England supporters before the match. Looking on, a group of fans jumped around and danced, chanted loudly and drunk beer from plastic glasses.
There was a heavier police presence than usual, though police were relaxed and three officers chatted and laughed with England fans.
Reassured by positive reports from the tournament and inspired by the unexpected progress of their team, some England fans have raced to Russia in recent days, with extra match tickets released by organisers FIFA and additional seats provided on Moscow-bound flights from Britain.
Victoria Lopyreva, an official ambassador for the World Cup and a former Miss Russia, called on Britons on Monday to come to Moscow for the match.
"I want to say to English fans: 'Guys, get it together, come to Russia and support your national team because they have got into the semi-final'," Lopyreva said.
England's last, and only, World Cup victory was in 1966.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Writing by Polina Ivanova/Tom Balmforth; Editing by Andrew)
