Mercurial Lionel Messi who scored in the first half, helped Argentina to beat Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday December 13, to reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar.
The Argentine team started the semi-final match slow, but later took control of the game as star player and captain, Messi, put his team ahead with a 34th-minute penalty after Croatia goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic tripped Alvarez as he chased a long ball.
Croatia, which came from behind to beat Japan and Brazil on penalties in the last two rounds, tried to hit back in the second half but failed to open any real cracks in a determined Argentine defence.
Also read: World Cup: Croatia eliminate Brazil to reach semi-final with Argentina
Julian Alvarez in the second half, scored two beautiful goals after fantastic passes from Messi, to give Argentina a 3-0 victory over 2018 runners-up Croatia.
Messi has now scored 96 goals for Argentina, extending his national record: 44 Friendlies (51 games) 28 World Cup Qualifiers (60 games) 13 Copa América (34 games) 11 FIFA World Cup (25 games).
