All eyes were on Lionel Messi in Argentina’s World Cup semifinal clash with Croatia, and the 35-year-old delivered the type of performance that could further cement his legacy, should La Albiceleste finish off their dream run in Qatar.
Messi scored once and assisted on another to power Argentina’s 3–0 victory in the semifinal and reach the second World Cup final of his storied career.
It was a classic Messi performance in every sense of the word—even in the appearance of complacency in the first 20 minutes. The Paris Saint-Germain star was mostly marked out of the opening phase of the match. But Argentina struck on a direct pass over the Croatian back line. Center back Joško Gvardiol was tight with Messi, and Julián Álvarez found the space in behind and drew a penalty on goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, who lunged into him while trying to make a tackle.
