If you are a die-dard Messi fan and are watching the FIFA 2022 World Cup only for him, then this tournament will surely be one of your favorites. The stakes were high as all eyes were on Argentina, a two-time world champion team that entered the competition as one of the favorites! To everyone’s surprise, Argentina lost its opening match to a significantly weaker Saudi Arabian team.
Argentina played Croatia in the first semi-final of the FIFA 2022 World Cup. The two-time winners defeated the Luka Modric-led team 3-0 at the Lusail Stadium to go to the championship game of football’s top competition.
In the 34th minute of the game, Messi converted a penalty to score his fifth goal of the tournament and give Argentina the lead. When Livakovic fouled Alvarez in the danger zone, the referee promptly blew for a foul and gave Argentina a penalty. For his team’s first goal, Mesi took care of the rest.
Five minutes after Lionel Messi gave Argentina the lead, Julian Alvarez, a teammate, made a stunning run through the Croatian defense and into the penalty area. In the 39th minute of the game, he made several tries to locate the ideal location, got lucky with a few deflections, and finally found the right opportunity, shooting the ball from close range to beat the goalkeeper. This doubled Argentina’s lead.
Argentina scores their third goal 70 minutes into the game when Messi, who has so far utterly destroyed Croatia’s defense, breaks through and provides a beautiful assist for the in-form Alvarez.
The Croatian captain Luka Modric is replaced by Lovro Majer because it is practically certain that Croatia would lose the game. The crowd gives him a rousing standing ovation as he exits the field for the final time during a World Cup in honor of a successful World Cup career. Then on, the Argentine players were simply wasting time by playing around with the ball, understanding that there is no desperate need to score any further. The referee signaled 5 minutes of extra time, but it was all over for Croatia as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the end of stoppage time!
Lionel Messi maintained his path toward winning the World Cup. In order to advance Argentina to the FIFA 2022 finals, he converted a penalty and planned a second for Julian Alvarez. The 2014 World Cup final, where Argentina lost to Germany, will be Messi’s second World Cup championship game. This very well might be his last appearance at the FIFA World Cup.
For Messi and his supporters, this was a performance to remember as he first successfully converted a key penalty and then set up a goal for Alvarez, helping Argentina overcome the 2018 runners-up. They are now anxiously observing the second semi-final between France and Morocco to find out who they will play on Sunday in the championship game!
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