FIFA World Cup 2022 semi-final Highlights: Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to reach final

The final whistle is blown. Argentina fans celebrate. Lionel Messi is looking pleased. No outburst of emotions from the man, who seems to be on a mission.

Argentina beat Croatia 3-0 to advance to their 6th World Cup final.

It's going to be the second final for Lionel Messi. They will meet the winner of the second semi-final between France and Morocco on Sunday at the Lusail Stadium. 

The Argentina fans are buzzing at the Lusail Stadium. This looks done and duster. Lionel Messi looks delighted. 5 minutes of stoppage time before Argentina confirm their berth in the final. 

Lionel Scaloni now goes into energy-saving mode. He knows this semi-final is done and duster. Molina and Mac Allister make way for Foyth and Correa. 

The Croatian fans are up on their feet to applaud one of the greatest. Luka Modric is being substituted and Majer has come on. 

Modric, who led Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018, has been sensational in Qatar too. He was not able to do the job tonight but that doesn't take away the love the Croatia fans have for the Real Madrid star. 

Hopefully, he will be able to put on a show in the third-place match on Saturday. Croatia are, as things stand, going out. 

Julian Alvarez is not going to score a World Cup hat-trick, tonight. He is taken off by Lionel Scaloni. The man who scored two gets a rousing reception from the crowd. He is replaced by Dybala. 

Meanwhile, De Paul comes off, Palacia replaces him. 

Kramaric is making his way out. Livaja replaces the forward for Croatia as Zlatko Dalic is ringing in the changes in a bid to do something. Croatia are all but out of the race to the final. They need a miracle from here on. 

This is spectacular from Lionel Messi! Aren't we all blessed to see the magician live in action? 

A stunning run down the right from Lionel Messi as he holds off Gvardiol, who has been one of the best defenders in FIFA World Cup 2022. He dances inside the box and leaves behind Gvardiol and cuts back from the edge of the box and slips in a beautiful ball to Alvarez, who is rushing into the box. 

A straightforward chance and Alvarez doubles his tally.

He goes and embraces his captain as Argentina fans at the Lusail Stadium erupt in joy.

Game, set, match. Argentina? 

A beautiful free-kick from Luka Modric from the left. He swings one into the box and Lovren gets a head on it. However, there was not much power and direction in the header which is cleared away by the Argentine defence. 

This is an enthralling contest. Argentina know they can't afford to drop their guards. 

Argentina brings their center back Lisandro Martinez on for Parades. Lionel Scaloni has relied on the Manchester United star for solidity and he will have to play a key role in helping them retain their lead here. 

Messi has his shot blocked by Livakovic. The Argentina captain received a lovely ball on the left inside the box. He tries to power one past the Croatian goalkeeper but he hit straight into Livakovic's body. Should he have chipped this one over the goalkeeper's head? 

Parades hits one straight into the Croatian goalkeeper's chest. Argentina have begun the second-half well. They have made it clear that they are not going to always sit back and defend their two-goal lead, which is never safe. Messi with his fancy footwork outside the box but the ball is stolen away from him. Parades fires one from 10 yards outside the box but it's a regulation save for Livakovic. 

2 changes at the start of the second half for Croatia and they make one more. 

Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Pasalic and Brona Sosa make way for Bruno Petkovic, Nikola Vlasic and Mislav Orsic.

Argentina go into the half with a two-goal lead. Lionel Messi and company will be confident of cementing a spot in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final but will have to keep the Croatians at bay in the second half.

45' - Juranovic strikes a deflected effort that Martinez scrambles across goal. Andrej Kramaric tries to put the ball in the back of the net on the rebound but can't keep it in play.

42' - Lionel Messi's corner is met by a powerful Mac Alister header. But Croatia's goalkeeper is equal to it, pulling out a fantastic left-handed save to deny the Brighton midfielder. 

39' - Julian Alvarez makes it 2-0! The Manchester City striker was played in by Messi. He ran half the length of the pitch and scored after the ball fell to him after a couple of lucky ricochets.

Argentina 2-0 Croatia

34' - Messi fires his penalty kick in the top right corner to put Argentina in front. This goal takes Messi to 11 World Cup goals to become Argentina's top-scorer at FIFA World Cups. He is also level with Kylian Mbappe as the leading goal-scorer at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Argentina 1-0 Croatia

32' - Julian Alvarez gets brought down by Livakovic after being played through one-on-one with the goal-keeper. VAR checks the incident and gives the green light for the penalty.

31' - Modric nutmegs an Argentine defender and passes the ball to Brozovic, who lays it off for Perisic. The Tottenham winger cuts in and tries to chip Martinez but hits it over the bar.

25' - Julian Alvarez has a pop from outside the box, which is ably saved by Livakovic in goal. The first shot on target in this semi-final. 

20' - Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic have all the control in the midfield. The Croatian trio have the upper hand in the middle of the park and are running the game for Croatia. 

13' - Great build-up passing from Croatia to get into the final third of the pitch. But Argentina's defensive unit does the job with Christian Romero putting in a strong tackle to win the ball. 

5' - Both Argentina and Croatia are going for it, with none of the sides sitting back. Argentina have enjoyed some success through Molina on the right flank. While, Croatia are looking to hit their opponents on the counter-attack.

Argentina 0-0 Croatia

The first semi-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has kicked-off. Let's see who makes it to the final!

Can Messi emulate his idol Maradona? Argentina fans are certainly hopeful that their GOAT can. The Lusail Stadium is going to be filled with fans of the Albiceleste. Argentina fans have certainly lit up Qatar with their passion and energy. Can they inspire Messi and Co. tonight? 

Lionel Messi entered record books even before he stepped on the pitch at the Lusail Stadium for the FIFA World Cup 2022 semi-final against Croatia. The Argentina captain, who was named in the starting line-up, equalled Lothar Matthaus record for most appearances in men's World Cup history.

Lothar Matthaus, who captained the 1990 World Cup-winning Germany team and was part of 2 finals, had finished his career with 25 appearances at World Cups. Germany's Miroslav Klose had 24 appearances and Diego Maradona had 21 appearances in their decorated careers. (Read More)

Lionel Messi is the center of attraction tonight. He looked calm and composed as he made the way to the Lusail Stadium locker room. 

Argentina fans go the extra mile to watch Lionel Messi as they cycle 10,000 kms to reach Qatar. 

Watch here

Former Germany and Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber has said that Croatia are the only team that can stop Lionel Messi at this World Cup.

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In general, it is difficult for a World Cup finalist from the previous edition of the tournament to not be in the spotlight, but Croatia have, largely for the fact that they do not have a superstar value attached to them, writes Kingshuk Kusari in his semi-final preview. 

They have got a little help in that due to their play style and results, having drawn their last three fixtures in the tournament. For that matter, Croatia have drawn four out of their five games in the 2022 campaign, having only defeated Canada by a 4-1 margin in the group stages.

Argentina on the other hand woke after their shock 1-2 loss against Saudi Arabia in their first group stage game. Lionel Messi's side, who came into the tournament with an impressive undefeated record since April 2019, have won three out of the five games, and beaten Netherlands via a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals fixture.

Starting XI: Livakovic, Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa, Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic.

Subs: Grbic, Ivusic, Stanisic, Barisic, Erlic, Majer, Vlasic, Livaja, Petkovic, Budimir, Orsic, Vida, Sutalo, Sucic, Jakic.

Starting XI: Martinez, Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico, De Paul, Paredes, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Messi, Alvarez

Subs: Armani, Foyth, Pezzella, Rulli, Palacios, Correa, Almada, Gomez, Dybala, Jeremias, Lisandro Martinez, Di Maria

What a momentous occasion for two proud sporting nations. Lionel Messi's Argentina take on Luka Modric's Croatia in the first semi-final of FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Lusail Stadium. 

It's all about the two main men who want to finish their decorated careers with the coveted trophy. Messi, who is arguably the best player in the world, is looking to put behind the disappointments in the past and lead his country to glory. 

On the other hand, Modric, who came close to scripting history in 2018, has another shot at World Cup glory.