As the tournament progressed through the group stages, Messi and his boys pulled up their socks and upped their game after having faced a shocking defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia. They eventually scored crucial victories on their way up to the semi-finals.
In the first semi-final of the FIFA 2022 World Cup, Argentina faced off against the 2018 runners-up Croatia, where the Two-time champions thrashed the Luka Modric-led side 3-0 at the Lusail Stadium to enter the summit clash of the apex tournament of football. The victory came as a delight for all the Messi fans around the globe who are dying to see their star win the biggest prize in football before he retires once and for all.
Messi scored his fifth goal of the tournament as he converted a penalty in the 34th minute of the match to give Argentina the early lead. Livakovic fouled Alvarez in the danger area and it was immediately called by the referee, who awarded Argentina a penalty. Mesi handled the rest to get the opening goal for his team.
Just five minutes after Messi opened the score for Argentina, teammate Julian Alvarez made a brilliant run past the Croatian defenders into the box. He made a few attempts to get into the right spot, got lucky with a couple of deflections and finally found the right moment, firing the ball from close range to get the better of the goalkeeper, doubling the lead for Argentina in the 39th minute of the game. The first half eventually ended with Argentina leading 2-0!
The second half began with a couple of changes in the Croatian line up as Vlasic replaced Pasalic to kick things off, and a few minutes later center-forward Petkovic was replaced by Brozovic. At 58 minutes, Messi was eyeing for the third goal for his team as he fired in a powerful straight shot but it failed to beat the Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic.
70 minutes into the match, Argentina get their third goal as Messi makes his mesmerizing trademark as he single-handedly destroys the Croatian defense, cutting through and making a sublime assist for the in-form Alvarez.
With the match almost certainly out of the hands of Croatia, Lovro Majer is called in as a substitute for the Croatian captain Luka Modric. As he walks off the field for the final time in a world cup, he is given a huge standing ovation by the crowd, showing respect to a glorious World Cup career. The Argentines did a splendid job to maintain, grow and defend the early lead. 5 minutes were added as extra time, which was just not enough for the Croatians to even try and level the score, leave alone winning.
Argentina have beat Croatia to make it to the finals of the FIFA 2022 World Cup. This will be Messi’s second World Cup final, as he previously led Argentina to the finals of the 2014 world cup where they lost to Germany. This very well might be his last appearance at the FIFA World Cup. It would be the perfect way to retire for a player widely regarded as one of the game’s best players.
This was indeed a memorable performance for Messi and his fans as he first converted a crucial penalty and created an assist for Álvarez, aiding Argentina to defeat the 2018 runners-up. Now they will be closely watching the second semifinal between France and Morocco to see who they face in Sunday’s title match. So, stay tuned to 90agency for all the hot and happening updates from the final matches of the FIFA 2022 world cup!