Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 in the first semi-final of FIFA World Cup 2022.
Argentina seemed to be getting into top form as the tournament progressed. They had lost their first match against Saudi Arabia and since then, have been impressive, living up to the expectation of being one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
Julian Alvarez won a penalty, which was scored by Messi in addition to scoring two goals.
The first half was turning out to be frustrating for Argentina as they were unable to pass the ball as fluently as they are used to.
But they had two breaks on the counter in a short span of time. They made most of it to score two goals in quick succession.
Just after the half-hour mark, Alvarez beat the offside trap and found himself on a one-on-one with the Croatian keeper Livakovic.
Livakovic was late on the ball and crashed on to Alvarez and Argentina was awarded a penalty.
Messi took the kick from the spot and sent a powerful shot to the left top as the keeper was beaten for pace and placement.
🇦🇷 Argentina’s new all-time leading goalscorer at the #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/kZkMG2BxW3
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 13, 2022
Lionel Messi joined Kylian Mbappe as the top scorer of the tournament. He also overtook Gabrial Batistuta as the top scorer for Argentina in World Cup tournaments with 11 goals.
Croatia was caught on the counter again, when Messi set a ball for Alvarez from the Argentine half. Alvarez had a great solo run. He was fortunate that twice, the defenders miscued the ball and, on both occasions, the ball fell to his path.
In the 69th minute, Messi collected the ball from near the half line, and had a run into to the creation corner line, from where he cut back the ball to Alvarez.
These two 🥰#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/838l6Bln2I
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 13, 2022
Álvarez scored from close range from Messi assist as Argentina stretched the lead to 3-0 and a Croatian comeback now seemed improbable.
#FIFAWorldCup Legend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ykrHdPOcvI
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 13, 2022
Luka Modric, Croatian captain and star midfielder, playing which might be his last World Cup match, was substituted in the 81st minute, signalling the end of the Croatian comeback hopes.
Argentina did not repeat the mistake made in the quarterfinal where they allowed the Dutch to comeback from 0-2 behind to level the score.
Argentina maintained a deep defence line even when in possession in Croatia’s territory as they closed down the match without any damage.
Argentina entered into the finals of FIFA World Cup 2022 and will play the winner of the France-Morocco semi-final match.
Another #FIFAWorldCup Final for Argentina! 🇦🇷✨
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 13, 2022
Messi will be playing his second World Cup final. He had earlier played in the 2014, where they lost to Germany.
