Table of content
Argentina Croatia Argentina led by Lionel Messi will reach the World Cup final LUCILLE, Qatar - Argentina returned to the World Cup final after defeating Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday at Lusail's iconic Lusail Stadium, with the most precise performance the Albiceleste side has seen since the start of the tournament.
The Argentines didn't need heroic saves from Emiliano Martinez, but they did need another great performance from Lionel Messi, who fired with a penalty goal, made an assist, and teamed up for another attack on the counterattack.
After the victory, Argentina became the first to qualify for the Qatar 2022 final and expects a competitor to come out between France and Morocco, which will take place on Wednesday. Argentina returns to the World Cup final when it fell to Germany in Brazil in 2014.
Tuesday's meeting was the third between them in the World Cup, and they entered with a record, with one victory for each team. In France 1998, the Albiceleste defeated Croatia by a minimal difference in the group stage, and in Russia 2018, Croatia crushed them 3-0 with Messi in their squad.
Today's duel had immeasurable value as it saw off great players such as Messi (35 years old) and Modric (37 years old) to the World Cup finals.
Argentina opened the scoring in the 35th minute after goalkeeper Dominik Levakovic found it necessary to stop Enzo Fernandez, who was due to score in the head-to-head, as the referee awarded the maximum penalty kick. Messi was in charge of the set by hitting his right hard and making it 1-0.
Just six minutes later, Argentina scored the second goal through Julian Alvarez in a counterattack that led four players forward, and allowed him, with two rebounds in his favor, to score the second goal for his team. It was the 2-0 score that gave the Argentines peace of mind.
The third came Messi's masterpiece. The captain of the Argentine national team took the ball from the center of the field and carried the marker with him until he reached the opponent's area. Messi made two dribbles and assisted Alvarez until he pushed it. El Gawahery was 3-0 up in the 69th minute.
With this victory, Argentina awaits its opponent in the all-or-nothing final between France and Morocco, which will take place on Wednesday (10 pm local time).