Lionel Messi set four new World Cup records as his inspirational performance led Argentina to the World Cup final with a three-goal win over Croatia in the last four.
Messi opened the scoring with a powerful left-footed finish from the penalty spot after his strike partner Julian Alvarez collided with Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic inside the area. Messi converted the subsequent penalty to become Argentina’s record World Cup scorer.
Messi entered this World Cup hoping to land six individual records and while he will be fully focused on inspiring his side to lift the trophy in Sunday's final – where they will play the winners of the other semi-final clash between France or Morocco – he chalked up four more on Tuesday.
The goal to break the deadlock was Messi’s 11 th in World Cup finals – making Messi Argentina’s top World Cup scorer of all time . The Paris Saint-Germain superstar had four days earlier levelled Gabriel Batistuta’s World Cup tally of ten goals – the nation’s previous record – in their quarter-final progression against the Netherlands with a coolly-converted second-half penalty, before also scoring in the penalty shootout.
For Argentina’s third goal, Messi provided a magical solo assist for Alvarez to tap home from close range. Messi twisted and turned past Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol in an eye-catching move before putting it on a plate for Messi to score.
That was Messi’s ninth assist in World Cup matches – making him the record World Cup assist provider for his nation, moving past Diego Maradona’s long-standing record of eight direct goal assists recorded for Argentina.
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Messi has now both scored and assisted a goal in four different World Cup games, including three at this year's tournament against the Netherlands and Mexico, and also in a 6-0 group-stage win over Serbia and Montenegro back in 2006.
That means that the legendary attacker became the first player in World Cup history to both score and assist in four separate matches in the competition since records began in 1966. Yet Messi still has one other record in his sights.
The PSG superstar made his 25th World Cup outing on Tuesday against Croatia, which saw him equal former Germany stalwart Lothar Matthaus for the most appearances in the competition's history . Messi’s World Cup final appearance on Sunday will see him set the record outright in his 26 th appearance.
The 35-year-old has been enjoying a standout tournament for his nation in Qatar and has contributed to eight of their 12 goals in their opening seven matches, netting five times and providing three assists.
Messi also found the net from the penalty spot in Argentina's opening game defeat against Saudi Arabia, before opening the scoring for Lionel Scaloni's side's two-goal victory over Mexico in their second group stage game.
The former Barcelona ace did not net against Poland in the two-goal victory to conclude the game - where he was also foiled from the penalty spot - but he did score against Australia in the Round of 16 and then again from the spot against the Netherlands.
