Messi, Alvarez lead Argentina to World Cup final

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
13 Dec 2022 23:57

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.

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.