Lionel Messi has admitted that he is surprised by the impact teammate and Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez has had on Argentina's run to the World Cup final in Qatar.
Alvarez, who joined officially joined City from River Plate during the summer, scored twice in Tuesday night's 3-0 semi-final win over Croatia to fire Argentina to their second World Cup final in the last three tournaments. His brace took his tally of goals in Qatar to four, meaning he will head into Sunday's final against current holders France just one goal shy of leading Golden Boot contenders Kylian Mbappe and Messi, both of whom are currently on five each.
Alvarez, who also scored in the victories over Poland and Australia, has been something of an unexpected star for the two-time World Cup winners in Qatar. He was expected to play second fiddle to Lautaro Martinez in the battle to lead the line and the Inter Milan star started the opening two games of the tournament, including the shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia but failed to leave his calling card, opening the door for Alvarez.
