Doha. Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 on Tuesday in the first semi-final match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Doha, Qatar. Along with this, Captain Lionel Messi of Argentina also made a record. Argentina has reached the final of this competition after the year 2014. The other semi-final match will be between France and Morocco on 18 December. Its winner will face Argentina for the title. Along with playing the final match, Lionel Messi will also become the number one player in history to play 26 World Cup matches.
Classic Messi Move ?
The little ?♂️ tip-toes past the #Croatia defense to set up an easy finish for Julian Alvarez ?
watch #ARGCRO ➡ LIVE ON #JioCinema , #sports18 #Qatar2022 #FIFAWorldCup #FIFAWConJioCinema #FIFAWConSports18 pic.twitter.com/kMWpzRUQdB
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) December 13, 2022
Messi also scored the first goal for Argentina. Messi converted Argentina’s penalty against Croatia in the 34th minute. After this, Argentina scored two more goals without giving chances to Croatia. The second goal was scored in the 39th minute itself. When, Julián Álvarez fired the ball past the goal post and into the net. Alvarez scored the third goal in the 69th minute. This goal was assisted by Messi. Messi has turned 35. It is believed that he is playing his last FIFA World Cup. This time, under his captaincy, Argentina is being seen as a team with the guts to win the title. Argentina had previously won the FIFA World Cup in 1978 and again in 1986. If she wins this time, she will equal Brazil, who has lifted the cup three times. However, Brazil won the cup three times in a row.
Messi, who scored a goal in the match against Croatia on Tuesday, has 5 goals in this competition. He has equaled Kilian Mbappe of France in this matter. He has also become the oldest player to score 5 goals in a single World Cup. Apart from this, he has also become the Argentine player to score 11 goals. He broke the record of Gabriel Batistuta. Batistuta is followed by Maradona. Maradona scored 8 goals in World Cup matches. Messi has also equaled the record of German player Lothar Matthäus for playing the most World Cup matches. He will now break this record by playing the final.