Alvarez scores twice as Messi leads Argentina 3-0 to Croatia in final

Argentina kept the scoring going and added a third goal in the 69th minute, with Alvarez netting his second of the game.

Doha: Lionel Messi continued his World Cup dreams as Argentina clinched their way to the FIFA World Cup final with a 3-0 thrashing of 2018 finalists Croatia at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.

With La Albiceleste leading 2-0 at half-time, Messi’s 34th-minute penalty gave them the lead, while Julian Alvarez gave South America an easy 2-0 lead with a superb individual strike Enter the game halftime.

Argentina kept the scoring going and added a third goal in the 69th minute, with Alvarez netting his second of the game.

The Argentina captain will play his second World Cup final on Sunday, having finished runners-up against Germany in the 2014 final, and is eager to lift the trophy at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.

The 35-year-old and his teammates will await the winner of Wednesday’s second semi-final between defending champions France and outsider Morocco to see who they take on in the title race.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker’s fifth goal for Qatar helped him pass Gabriel Batistuta to reach an 11th World Cup and made him Argentina’s all-time top scorer.

France’s Kylian Mbappe also has five goals and they will all be in contention for the Golden Boot.

Batistuta needs just 12 games to match his goalscoring tally, with Messi making his 25th World Cup appearance on Tuesday – bringing him level with Lothar Matthaus A record 25 games played at the World Cup.

Still, Messi’s goal highlighted the remarkable longevity of the Argentine star, who is playing in his fifth World Cup. His first World Cup goal came in 2006 against Serbia and Montenegro. At 18 years and 357 days, he became Argentina’s youngest ever goal scorer.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni made two changes to his squad for the game against the Netherlands.

With Marcos Acuna suspended, Nicolás Tagliafico was selected at left-back, while Leandro Paredes moved into midfield with full-back Lisandro Martinez quit.

Meanwhile, Zlatko Dalic insisted on starting against Brazil on Friday. Luka Modric becomes the fourth player aged 37 or over to start a World Cup after Brazil’s Nilton Santos in 1962, Italy’s Dino Zoff in 1982 and England’s Peter Hilton in 1990 six games.

The opening 25 minutes or so saw Croatia in complete control and Argentina failed to make any clear breakthroughs, but once Argentina scored a penalty they didn’t look back as the momentum turned quickly.

Croatia is in control of the ball with over 60% possession. Still, they managed to do something valuable with it, failing to register a single shot on target. Argentina were ready to sit down and fight as Croatia improved on the pitch.

Messi scored the opening goal against Croatia 11 minutes before half-time, firing in the top right corner from the penalty spot after Alvarez was fouled by Dominic Livakovic.

The counter-attack came after Ivan Perisic failed to clear Emiliano Martinez off the line at the other end and Alvarez was soon one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper had no choice but to bring the striker down as he tried to find the back of the net, 1-0.

Alvarez’s first goal of the night bears some resemblance to Diego Maldona’s greatest goal against England in the 1986 World Cup when he waved across the crowd in his own half. Defensive player who scored one of the best individual goals in the World Cup.

The young striker scored a quality goal as a mistake from a Croatian corner led to Argentina’s goal. The break quickly found Alvarez, who received the ball just over the half-way line and started running behind the cover of several Croatian defenders. He nearly lost control not once, but twice, as he got closer and closer to the penalty area, before he passed the ball to Livakovic to thrill the Argentine fans, making it 2-0.

In the second half, Argentina continued to hold their ground despite Croatia’s multiple advances. However, if there was any space, Argentina acted quickly and increased their advantage with a third goal.

For Argentina’s third goal, Messi scored a masterclass as he sprinted down near the right touchline, with Josco Gwadiol not far behind as he approached the right-hand side after entering the box. At the post, he saw Alvarez open slightly. The 10 was missed on a quick pass and Alvarez was able to pass it over the goalkeeper’s right to put Argentina 3-0 closer to the final.