Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez were among the goals as Argentina advanced to the 2022 FIFA World Cup final with a 3-0 victory over Croatia on Tuesday night.
2022 FIFA World Cup
Result: Argentina 3-0 Croatia
Date: 13 December 2022
Venue: Lusail Iconic Stadium
Nicolas Tagliafico and Leandro Paredes were recalled by Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni, with Lisandro Martinez dropping to the bench while Marcos Acuna missed out through suspension. Croatia, meanwhile, were unchanged from the win over Brazil.
The South Americans enjoyed most of the possession in the early stages, but were unable to carve out a clear-cut opening while Croatia looked to attack on the counter.
The first meaningful effort at goal arrived on 25 minutes when Enzo Fernandez unleashed a powerful strike from distance that forced goalkeeper : Dominik Livakovic to parry away.
The encounter came to life on 31 minutes when Argentina were awarded a penalty when Livakovic brought down Julian Alvarez, which allowed Messi to step and fired his side into the lead from 12-yards out, becoming Argentina's all-time leading scorer at the World Cup with 11 goals.
The lead was doubled eight minutes later when Alvarez embarked a surging run on the counter and after some good fortune in the box, he poked the ball beyond the helpless Livakovic.
The Croatians had Livakovic to thank for not going three goals down before the interval, as the shot-stopper produced a fine save to keep out a header from Alexis Mac Allister.
Croatia responded with a change shortly after the break, as Nikola Vlasic and Bruno Petkovic replaced Marcelo Brozovic and Mario Pasalic for the second period.
However, Argentina went on to bag a third goal on 69 minutes when Messi did well to dribble his way into the box before picking out Alvarez, who fired home from close range to complete his brace.
That would prove to be Alvarez's last involvement, as he made way for Paulo Dybala while Exequiel Palacios replaced Rodrigo de Paul in the middle of the park for the final 15 minutes.
With the game seemingly out of sight for Croatia , veteran midfielder Luka Modric was withdrawn for Lovro Majer just moments before Mac Allister skewed a volley wide of the mark from close range.
In the end, three goals were enough to get the job done on the night for Scaloni's men, who will now await the winner of Wednesday's semi-final between defending champions France and Morocco.
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