The Argentina national team secured the first ticket to the final match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, scheduled for next Sunday, by defeating Croatia 3-0 in the semi-final match held this Tuesday evening at Lusail Stadium. Argentina, led by Manchester City star Julián Álvarez, took the lead with a penalty awarded after a foul against him, converted by Lionel Messi in the 34th minute. Messi then scored the second goal himself in the 39th minute, followed by the third goal in the 70th minute.
Messi became Argentina's all-time top scorer in World Cup history with 11 goals, surpassing the legendary Gabriel Batistuta, who has 10 goals. Messi has also increased his tally in the current edition to 5 goals, tying with French player Kylian Mbappé at the top of the scoring charts. Álvarez now has 4 goals, and Messi became the player with the most opening goals in World Cup history, scoring 7 goals. Notably, he is now the oldest player (35 years and 172 days) to score 5 goals in a single World Cup tournament.
With his starting participation, Messi has become the player with the most appearances in World Cup history, with 25 matches, equalizing the German star Lothar Matthäus. He has the opportunity to break this record by playing in the final on Sunday against the winner of the match between Morocco and the reigning champion France, scheduled for tomorrow evening. Messi's ambition for his first World Cup title continues, aiming to match the achievement of his fellow countryman, the legendary Diego Maradona, who won the title in 1986, Argentina's second after 1978. It is worth noting that today's match saw Messi match Maradona's record for assists for the Argentine national team in the World Cup, with 8 assists.
Argentina reached the World Cup final for the sixth time in its history, with only Germany having more final appearances at 8. Argentina has never lost in the semi-finals before, having eliminated the Netherlands most recently in the 2014 edition.
Croatia, which reached the final in the last edition in Russia in 2018, failed to become the fourth European team to reach the final consecutively, following Italy (1934, 1938), the Netherlands (1974, 1978), and Germany (1982, 1986, 1990).
This match was the third encounter between Argentina and Croatia in World Cup history, and the first of its kind in the knockout stages. Argentina had previously won the first match 1-0 in the 1998 edition before Croatia won 3-0 in the 2018 edition in Russia.
