Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez led Argentina to a 3-0 win over Croatia, securing their place in the World Cup final for the first time since 2014.
The Argentines, looking to help Messi lift the one major trophy still missing from his cabinet, will take on defending champs France or Morocco in the world’s biggest men’s soccer game on Dec. 18.
Croatia will look to save its honour against the losers of the France-Morocco semifinal for the third-place game on Dec. 17.
Messi broke the ice from the penalty spot after Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic took down Alvarez inside the box.
With his 11th World Cup goal, Messi passed Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer at the tournament.
The Albiceleste took a two-goal lead five minutes later by shocking the Croatians as they attempted to equalize on a corner kick. The men in sky blue went coast-to-coast as the Croatians scrambled to defend and Alvarez found the back of the net.
Messi showed the world yet another masterclass as Argentina took a 3-0 advantage in the second half. The striker fooled Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol and finally made a cut-back pass for Alvarez, who completed the brace.
With the assist, Messi joined Diego Maradona with an eighth World Cup helper.
