The final four matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup were played today. The first match was between Argentina and Croatia, which is the best team in this year’s knockout tournament. Linoel Messi and Luka Modric of both teams are playing in the World Cup for the last time.
Argentina advances to the championship for the 6th time in team history
Although Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the group stage, they made it out of the group stage and beat Australia and the Netherlands in the round of 16 and 8 to reach the quarterfinals. For Argentina, they have never lost a World Cup quarterfinal match in the past, reaching the quarterfinals five times and advancing to the final.
After beating Croatia today, they continued their unbeaten tradition and collected their sixth ticket to the championship in team history. Next up, they will face the winner of France vs Morocco to advance to their third World Cup title. Like France, Argentina will be the fourth team in the history of the World Cup to win at least three times if they eventually win the title.
After 1930, 1978, 1986, 1990 and 2014, the team has reached the final for the 6th time in its history. Argentina made it to the top in 1978 and 1986, and then never won the title again. The last time Argentina reached the World Cup final was in Brazil in 2014, when they faced the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. After the regular and extended matches, the two sides played to a 0-0 draw, and then eliminated their opponents 4-2 in a 12-yard PK battle, advancing to the final for the fifth time in team history. Unfortunately, in the final match and Germany to the extended match to 0-1 defeat.
Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez bombed Croatia
Lionel Messi scored the first goal in the first half on a penalty kick, and Alvarez scored twice, one in the first half and one in the second half. Argentina won 3-0 in the final match.
In the 31st minute of the match, Argentina’s 22-year-old forward Julian Alvarez had a chance to shoot at the net in front of the goal, but was tripped by Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who received a yellow card. Argentina was awarded a 12-yard penalty kick by ace striker Lionel Messi, who was the first to break through the net in the 34th minute. The goal was the key to Argentina’s championship run, and had a very different meaning for both Alvarez and Messi.
Five minutes later, Julian Alvarez received a pass from Messi near the center line and pushed the ball through the Croatian defense, dodging three defenders and scoring another goal in the 39th minute to take a 2-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Messi pushed in from the right side with the ball near the midfield, and brought the ball to the box to turn left and right to assist Julian Alvarez to score another goal in the 69th minute. At the very end of the match, Modric was the first to leave the field at 81 minutes. He cried in the rest area, and Messi hugged him after the match.
Julian Alvarez always dreamed of playing for his country with Lionel Messi
Ten years ago, Julian Alvarez, like all Argentine fans, adored his country’s soccer hero Lionel Messi. Julian Alvarez was just a student when he was 11 years old and Lionel Messi was 24 years old. From a young age, Alvarez knew two things for sure: first, he wanted to play in the World Cup, and second, he wanted to play with Lionel Messi in the World Cup.
Julian Alvarez said, “Messi is my idol since I was a child, he is the idol of our family, he is the idol of our brothers, so Messi is a hero to me. I was like a kid who dreamed of playing with Messi for the national team.” And today, Julian Alvarez’s dream has come true, and in an even more fantastic way. Alvarez is not only playing in the national team’s uniform in the World Cup, but he is also teammates with his idol Lionel Messi, and even helped him reach the finals.
Lionel Messi’s last World Cup
This was the 25th World Cup match for Argentina captain Lionel Messi, tying him for first place with German legend Lothar Matthaus. Even though Messi is 35 years old, he has scored 2 goals in the group stage and has scored in the quarterfinals, round of 8 and round of 16, proving that he still has the ability to dominate the game. He also said that after the loss to Saudi Arabia, the next 5 games will be like a final and he hopes to win the next real final.
Messi’s goal against Croatia was the 11th of his career in the World Cup, allowing him to surpass the team record set by Gabriel Batistuta. With five goals so far, Messi is temporarily tied with French star Kylian Mbappe for the Golden Boot, the symbol of top scorer, and is looking forward to adding another feather to his cap by winning the World Cup at the age of 35.
Messi has won numerous awards in his career, but his long-standing regret is that he has never led his team to a major international title. But this curse was broken last year when Messi led Argentina to the Copa America title, ending the drought.
Croatia is the legend of the recent World Cup
Croatia won their first World Cup in France in 1998, winning the third place in the World Cup intra-conference tournament. In the last World Cup 2018 in Russia, they reached the final as a dark horse led by Luka Modric and lost 2-4 to France.
Croatia is a recent World Cup legend, having never won a single match in the knockout stages of two consecutive World Cups, but last year they made it to the finals with two PK battles and an extended match.
This year, they almost duplicated their last tournament, eliminating Japan and Brazil in back-to-back PK battles to reach the quarterfinals again. They conceded only 3 goals in their first 5 games, but they were unable to stop Messi and Avarez, and their offense was not strong enough to make it to the final for the second time. They can only fight for the third place.
