Messi, Alvarez lead Argentina to World Cup final
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Argentina, the two-times world champions, will meet the winners of Wednesday's semi-final clash between holders France and Morocco in Sunday's final.
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Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez
Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez guaranteed on Tuesday Argentina's spot in the 2022 World Cup final after securing a 3-0 win against Croatia in Lusail Stadium.
Argentina, the two-times world champions, will meet the winners of Wednesday's semi-final clash between holders France and Morocco in Sunday's final.
Messi, who suffered a defeat against Germany in the 2014 final, is desperate to crown his extraordinary career by winning his first World Cup and bringing Argentina a third title to add to those won in 1978 and 1986.
The 35-year-old scored the opening goal through a penalty kick in the first 34th minute against Croatia, runners-up in Russia four years ago.
It was Messi's fifth goal of the tournament, making him joint top-scorer with France's Kylian Mbappe. His 11th career goal -- in a record-equalling 25th World Cup appearance -- also took him past Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's all-time World Cup top scorer.
Five minutes later, Alvarez doubled Argentina's lead with a goal in the 39th minute, minutes before the end of the first half of the match.
Fast forward to the 69th minute, Messi played an assist to 22-year-old Alvarez who coolly shot and scored in Dominik Livakovic's goal, officially announcing France's journey to the World Cup final.
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