World Cup 2022 Semifinal: Argentina vs Croatia: Messi creates history as Argentina win 3-0 and book final date

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Lionel Messi scored one and Julian Alvarez scored a brace as Argentina made light work of Croatia with a 3-0 win in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the spot and scored his 5th goal of this campaign, thus levelling with top-scorer Kylian Mbappe.

Argentina return to the final showdown of a World Cup for the first time since 2014 and will wait for the winners of Morocco and France.

Argentina vs Croatia Match Report:

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni made a couple of changes to the side as Leandro Paredes and Nicolas Tagliafico came in for Marcus Acuna and Lisandro Martinez. Croatia went with the same eleven that played in the quarterfinal win over Brazil.

It was a controlled start for both teams but Argentina looked the better side of the two. The Latin American side looked threatened with the ball, but couldn't breach the Croatian defence in the early stages of the first half.

The Latin American side had the first sight of goal through Enzo Fernandez, but his shot was comfortably saved by Dominik Livakovic. Argentina got a penalty in the 32nd minute as goalkeeper Livakovic fouled Julian Alvarez in the box. Lionel Messi scored from the spot to give Argentina a huge lead as they steered towards another World Cup final.

Julian Alvarez then scored a sensational solo goal to double Argentina's advantage in the 39th minute. A mesmerizing run from his own half was finished sublimely by the Manchester City striker as Argentina went into the half time with a two-goal cushion.

Croatia failed to create chances in the second half as Argentina looked dominant. And they increased their lead in the 69th minute as Julian Alvarez scored his second of the night, with Lionel Messi turning provided this time.

Croatia looked out of sorts as their campaign ended with a disappointing loss. Argentina qualified for the finals with a 3-0 scoreline.

Aftermath:

Argentina will play the winners of the second semifinal between France and Morocco in the final. Croatia wait for the losers of the same match to play the 3rd place play-off.

Argentina vs Croatia Lineup:

Argentina: Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez

Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic

Argentina vs Croatia Match Facts:

• Lionel Messi levelled with Kylian Mbappe in the race for Golden Boot with his 5th goal of the campaign.
• Lionel Messi also surpassed Gabriel Batistuta as the highest-scoring Argentine in the World Cup. He now has 11 goals for Los Albicelestes in the World Cup.
• Ivan Perisic of Croatia had the most shots in the game with 3, but couldn't put one in the back of the net.
• Lionel Messi completed the most dribbles in the match with 5. He also became the first player to both score and assist in four different WC matches.
• Julian Alvarez became the second Argentine player to score 4 World Cup goals while aged 22 and under. Gonzalo Higuain is the other player who had 4 goals by the 2010 World Cup.