Messi fires Argentina to World Cup final in 3-0 win against Croatia

Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez scored for Argentina in a 3-0 win over Croatia at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar to reach the World Cup final.

Argentina will face either France or Morocco, who play in Wednesday’s semi-final, on Sunday.

Messi, on Tuesday night, fired into the top corner from the penalty spot in the 34th minute against the run of play to open the scoring after Alvarez earned a debatable penalty following a collision with Croatia goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic.

With that strike, the 35-year-old player surpassed Gabriel Batistuta to become Argentina’s top scorer at World Cup finals on 11 goals.

Croatia collapsed after the opener and conceded another five minutes later from an Argentina counter-attack after comical defending as Alvarez doubled their lead in the 39th minute having carried the ball from his own half.

Messi took matters into his own hands to ensure the game was out of reach, producing a moment of magic down the right to beat Josko Gvardiol before putting it on a plate for Alvarez to score Argentina’s third goal.

Speaking after the game, Messi said: “Throughout the World Cup it has been incredible what we have lived through and we are going to play the last game which is what we wanted.

“I’ve been enjoying this for a long time, since we arrived at this World Cup. We asked people to trust us because we know who we are. It’s crazy, we did it. We’re going to play another final. Once again, Argentina are in a World Cup final.”

Finalists in 2014, the Argentines will look to land a third world crown after 1978 and 1986, even though that looked unlikely a few weeks ago following their opening group defeat by Saudi Arabia that left them facing elimination.

Claiming the world title would elevate seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi to the mythical status that the late Diego Maradona enjoys in Argentina.

The Star