After each matchday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet.ca’s World Cup Daily blog will recap the day’s events and look ahead to the next day’s slate of games.
Here’s what happened on Tuesday in Qatar, in case you missed it…
THE RESULT
Argentina 3, Croatia 0 in Lusail: Match report || Match stats
MAIN TALKING POINT
Argentina on the cusp of winning third World Cup
As European champions, Spain entered the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as one of the favourites, but La Roja’s credentials as legitimate contenders were instantly questioned after opening the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland. The Spanish, of course, rebounded from that setback to hoist the World Cup, becoming the first nation in the history of the men’s competition to win it all after losing its first game.
Twelve years later, Argentina finds itself in a similar situation. Touted as one the pre-tournament favourites in Qatar, La Albiceleste dropped a 2-1 decision to Saudi Arabia in its first match of the competition, a result that will go down in history as one of the biggest upsets ever at the World Cup.
Argentina was in a state of disarray and was rightfully skewered by its media for its poor performance against the Saudis. The South Americans’ World Cup campaign appeared to be over before it even had a chance to get started.
But coach Lionel Scaloni’s side has rebounded quite nicely since that shocking loss, going from strength to strength with each passing game in Qatar, thanks in large part to Lionel Messi and a supporting cast of brilliant youngsters that include Enzo Fernández (21), Julián Álvarez (22) and Alexis Mac Allister (23).
On Tuesday, it was the dynamic duo of Messi and Álvarez who terrorized Croatia, with the youngster bagging a brace (both set up by Messi) and the veteran converting a penalty to give his nation the lead.
Messi’s goal came in the 34th minute, so there was plenty of time for a Croatian comeback, but it proved to be beyond Luka Modrić and his cohorts, who had no answer in reply to the surging South American attack.
Argentina was brilliant at times in its two previous knockout stage matches, earning wins over Australia and the Netherlands. But they nearly bottled it in both games, allowing their opponents to stick around and push them to every end after squandering the chance to kill them off.
This was something completely different — a complete, 90-minute performance by a team that was in complete control the entire way through and never looked to be in serious danger. With Sunday’s World Cup final looming, Argentina seems to have picked the perfect time to finally learn the value of game management in Qatar.
GOAL OF THE DAY
With Argentina sitting on a 2-0 lead, Lionel Messi put the game away in the 61st minute with an individual act of brilliance. The PSG star twisted and turned away from Croatian defender Joško Gvardiol as he peeled off the right wing, before driving into the penalty area and cutting the ball back to Julián Álvarez who slotted home from the edge of the six-yard box.
MOMENT OF THE DAY
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Julián Álvarez has scored in six of his eight starts for Argentina in all competitions (seven goals), with four of his goals coming at this World Cup.
• Lionel Messi has now scored 11 goals at the World Cup, the most of any Argentina player in the competition’s history.
• Messi made his 25th World Cup appearance on Tuesday, tying Lothar Matthäus for the most appearances in the history of the men’s competition.
• Croatia’s Luka Modrić is just the fourth player to start six matches at a single World Cup tournament while aged 37 or over, after Brazil’s Nilton Santos in 1962, Italy’s Dino Zoff in 1982 and England’s Peter Shilton in 1990.
• Messi is the first Argentina player to score in three different knockout rounds of a World Cup.
• Julián Álvarez (22 years and 316 days) is the youngest player to score twice in a World Cup semifinal or final since Pelé in 1958 (17 years and 249 days).
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS OF THE DAY
1) Lionel Messi (Argentina): The PSG star converted the penalty that opened the scoring and then set up two more goals to help send his nation through to the World Cup final.
2) Julián Álvarez (Argentina): The youngster bagged a brace and earned the penalty that led to Argentina’s opening goal. Linked up with Messi to devastating effect all game long.
3) Enzo Fernández (Argentina): An all-around stellar performance from the midfielder, who completed 86.5 per cent of his passes, made four tackles and had a shot on target.
LOOKING AHEAD TO WEDNESDAY
France takes on Morocco (2 p.m. ET) in Al Kohr for the right to advance to Sunday’s final against Argentina/Croatia.
The French enter this game as the favourites, but they can’t expect to have an easy time of it. France has yet to keep a clean sheet in this tournament, while fullbacks Theo Hernandez and Jules Kounde have failed to impress.
Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal of Morocco are two lethal wingers who love to run at defenders, and fullback Achraf Hakimi is one of the fastest players at this tournament, so the French will have to try to contend with the Africans’ dangerous play in wide areas.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
