World Cup 2022: Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez magic sink Croatia

Published on: 13 December 2022

Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 to get to the World Cup final, thanks to Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez's lethal combination.

In the 34th minute, Messi capitalized on a penalty called against Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovi, thumping a penalty shot into the back of the net and enabling Argentina to grab an early 1-0 lead.

Julian Alvarez, 22, scored five minutes later following a mistake by Croatian defender Borna Sosa, increasing the score to 2-0.

Messi pushed the ball downfield 15 minutes into the second half, finding Alvarez on a cross for Manchester City striker's second goal of the game.

Interestingly Lionel Messi scored his first of 95 goals for the Argentina men’s national team in a non-competitive (friendly) match against Croatia in 2006 when Modric made his debut for the Croatian men’s team.

Argentina will now wait to play the winner of Morocco vs France. The big game between the North African side and France will take place tomorrow.

The Moroccans are focused on their attempt to win the 2022 World Cup according to coach Walid Regragui.

Nayef Akrad, and Naseer Mazraoui, are ready to play for Morocco against France.

Mazraoui and Akrad were absent from the Atlas Lions' 1-0 quarter-final victory over Portugal. Captain Romain Saiss won't be available against France because of injury.

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