On Tuesday evening Croatia face Argentina looking to earn a place in the World Cup final once again. The Vatreni made it to the finale of the global competition in 2018 against France and will hope to move one step further if they can make it past Lionel Messi and co.
The Argentinian icon will present quite the obstacle to Croatian progression. The 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star has been central to the South American side's play and is second in the race for the Golden Ball behind Kylian Mbappe having already provided four goals and two assists in Qatar.
Stifling the talents of Messi is not a task that Mateo Kovacic is unfamiliar with. The Chelsea star has seen the former Barcelona ace as an adversary in both domestic and international competition over the last fives years to both success and failure.
