Pickford has been the star of the show for the Three Lions, saving a penalty in the shoot-out win over Colombia and making two superb saves against Sweden.
Juventus striker Mandzukic is a big fan – but insists his team have what it takes to beat the England No1 and make it to their first World Cup final.
He said: “We’ve seen throughout the games that he is doing really well. But we have shown throughout the tournament that all of our players are dangerous.
“He shows great potential and I’m sure he has a bright future. But I’m sure one of us will find a way to surprise him.”
Mandzukic insists Croatia feel no pressure ahead of their biggest game of their lives and scoffs at talk they might be tired after back-to-back penalty shoot-out wins over Denmark and Russia.
He said: “Everybody is ready. You will see that in the match. We have waited years to do something great with Croatia. We are so close and we will leave every drop of sweat on the pitch in order to achieve our goal.”
Meanwhile, former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric aims to make up for flopping with the Foxes by helping Croatia knock England out of the World Cup.
Kramaric played just two games as Claudio Ranieri’s team famously won the title in 2016 and did not qualify for a winner’s medal. But now he is taking aim at England in a World Cup semi final.
Kramaric said: “It turned out I didn’t play much at Leicester because the team was playing really well and no coach would change a winning team. It was a great experience I could talk about for days. But I do hope to talk about this World Cup with Croatia for years.”